Burmese star tortoise

Burmese star tortoise
At Sunshine International Aquarium, Japan
Conservation status
Critically Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
CITES Appendix I (CITES)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Testudines
Suborder:	Cryptodira
Superfamily:	Testudinoidea
Family:	Testudinidae
Genus:	Geochelone
Species:	G. platynota
Binomial name
Geochelone platynota (Blyth, 1863)
Synonyms[2]
Testudo platynota Blyth, 1863 Peltastes platynotus Gray, 1870 Testudo platinota Bourret, 1941 (ex errore) Testudo platynotus Bourret, 1941 Geochelone platynota Loveridge & Williams, 1957 Geochelone elegans platynota Obst, 1985 Geochelone platynotata Paull, 1997 (ex errore)

The Burmese star tortoise (Geochelone platynota) is a critically endangered tortoise species, native to the dry, deciduous forests of Myanmar (Burma).

Description

The Burmese star tortoise has radiating star-shaped patterns on its strongly domed carapace. It has bumps on its shell that look like stars. This tortoise can easily be distinguished from the more common Indian star tortoise by comparing the plastrons of the two species.^[3]

Captive breeding

The breeding of the Burmese star tortoise is difficult, and its first successful breeding in captivity was in Taipei Zoo, Taiwan, where a few Burmese star tortoises were hatched in 2003.^[4]

Yadanabon Zoological Gardens is also currently engaged in a captive-breeding program to attempt to increase the population of this tortoise.

Starting with 200 tortoises in 2004, by October 2017, there were 14,000 tortoises in breeding programs and 1000 have been reintroduced into the wild. On 31 July 2021, Richard Branson announced two baby Burmese star tortoises were born on his private island, Necker Island, as part of his ongoing conservation work for the species. ^[5]

References

1. Praschag, P.; Platt, K.; Horne, B.D (2020). "Geochelone platynota". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T9013A123815185. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-2.RLTS.T9013A123815185.en.
2. Fritz Uwe; Peter Havaš (2007). "Checklist of Chelonians of the World". Vertebrate Zoology. 57 (2): 279. doi:10.3897/vz.57.e30895. ISSN 1864-5755. S2CID 87809001.
3. "Burmese starred tortoise videos, photos and facts - Geochelone platynota | ARKive". Archived from the original on 2014-03-04. Retrieved 2014-04-22.
4. "送緬甸星龜回緬甸-2003臺北動物園全球首度成功繁殖". Taipei Zoo (in Chinese (Taiwan)). 2009-09-16. Retrieved 2018-09-27.
5. Yin, Steph (4 October 2017). "Slow and Steady, a Tortoise Is Winning Its Race With Extinction (Published 2017)". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2021-10-30.

External links

• Columbia Science Review
• Assessing reintroduction sites for Burmese star tortoises
• Population status and conservation of the Critically Endangered Burmese Star Tortoise Geochelone platynota in central Myanmar
• Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora