The Burmese star tortoise (Geochelone platynota) is a critically endangered tortoise species, native to the dry, deciduous forests of Myanmar (Burma).
| Burmese star tortoise | |
|---|---|
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| At Sunshine International Aquarium, Japan | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Testudines |
| Suborder: | Cryptodira |
| Superfamily: | Testudinoidea |
| Family: | Testudinidae |
| Genus: | Geochelone |
| Species: | G. platynota
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| Binomial name | |
| Geochelone platynota (Blyth, 1863)
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| Synonyms[2] | |
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Description
editThe 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
editThe 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
edit- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Burmese starred tortoise videos, photos and facts - Geochelone platynota | ARKive". Archived from the original on 2014-03-04. Retrieved 2014-04-22.
- ^ "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.
- ^ 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.