| Manouria | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Manouria emys | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Testudines |
| Suborder: | Cryptodira |
| Superfamily: | Testudinoidea |
| Family: | Testudinidae |
| Genus: | Manouria Gray, 1854 |
| Type species | |
| Manouria fusca Gray, 1854 | |
Manouria is a genus of tortoises in the family Testudinidae. The genus was erected by John Edward Gray in 1854.
Manouria is either the most basal or second most basal member of the family Testudinidae (its phylogenetic position is adjacent to that of Gopherus ). [1] [2] As a result, while tortoises are primarily terrestrial, the genus Manouria is a model for the evolutionary transition to terrestriality, as it still has an affinity for aquatic environments, and has retained some ancestral adaptations for an aquatic lifestyle while losing others. The Asian forest tortoise (Manouria emys) has been observed attempting to feed on submerged food items, albeit unsuccessfully. Additionally, the species grasps food item with its jaws as in aquatic or semiaquatic taxa, as opposed to first making contact with the tongue as with all other tortoise species (with the possible exception of Gopherus). [3]
The following five species are recognized as being valid, two of which are extant, [4] and three of which are extinct:
| Image | Common Name | Scientific name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Asian forest tortoise | Manouria emys (Schlegel & S. Müller, 1844) | Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. |
 | impressed tortoise | Manouria impressa (Günther, 1882) | Myanmar, southern China, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia and Northeast India. |
Nota bene : A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Manouria.
Tortoises are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines. Like other turtles, tortoises have a shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, and like other members of the suborder Cryptodira, they retract their necks and heads directly backward into the shell to protect them.
Giant tortoises are any of several species of various large land tortoises, which include a number of extinct species, as well as two extant species with multiple subspecies formerly common on the islands of the western Indian Ocean and on the Galápagos Islands.
Gopherus is a genus of fossorial tortoises commonly referred to as gopher tortoises. The gopher tortoise is grouped with land tortoises that originated 60 million years ago, in North America. A genetic study has shown that their closest relatives are in the Asian genus Manouria. The gopher tortoises live in the southern United States from California's Mojave Desert across to Florida, and in parts of northern Mexico. Gopher tortoises are so named because of some species' habit of digging large, deep burrows. Most notably, Gopherus polyphemus digs burrows which can be up to 40 feet (12 m) in length and 10 feet (3.0 m) in depth. These burrows are used by a variety of other species, including mammals, other reptiles, amphibians, and birds. Gopher tortoises are 20–50 cm (7.9–19.7 in) in length, depending on the species. All six species are found in xeric habitats. Numerous extinct species are known, the oldest dating to the Priabonian stage of the Late Eocene of the United States.
Chelydra is one of the two extant genera of the snapping turtle family, Chelydridae, the other being Macrochelys, the much larger alligator snapping turtle. The snapping turtles are native to the Americas, with Chelydra having three species, one in North America and two in Central America, one of which is also found in northwestern South America.
Aldabrachelys is genus of giant tortoises, including the Aldabra giant tortoise native to the Seychelles, as well as two extinct species, Aldabrachelys abrupta and Aldabrachelys grandidieri known from Madagascar. The genus name derives from Aldabra, a coral atoll in the Seychelles, plus chelys, from the Greek, χέλυς, for "tortoise" or "lyre", since Hermes was the first to invent the lyre from a hollowed out tortoise shell.
Hesperotestudo is an extinct genus of tortoise native to North and Central America from the Early Miocene to the Late Pleistocene. Species of Hesperotestudo varied widely in size, with a large undescribed specimen from the Late Pleistocene of El Salvador reaching
Chelonoidis is a genus of turtles in the tortoise family erected by Leopold Fitzinger in 1835. They are found in South America and the Galápagos Islands, and formerly had a wide distribution in the West Indies.
Aldabrachelys abrupta, the abrupt giant tortoise, is an extinct species of giant tortoise that was endemic to Madagascar.
Megalochelys is an extinct genus of tortoises that lived from the Miocene to Pleistocene. They are noted for their giant size, the largest known for any tortoise, with a maximum carapace length of over 2 m (6.5 ft) in M. atlas. The genus ranged from western India and Pakistan to as far east as Sulawesi and Timor in Indonesia, though the island specimens likely represent distinct species.
Centrochelys atlantica is a putative extinct species of tortoise supposed to have lived in the Pleistocene recorded in the volcanic crater on Sal, Cape Verde. Tortoise fossils were described but not named from the crater in 1935. Four further bones from a private collector supposed to have been found in the same crater were described in 1998 as a new species similar to the extant Testudo calcarata, differentiated from C. sulcata by its smaller size and lesser robusticity.
The Tenerife giant tortoise is an extinct species of cryptodire turtle in the family Testudinidae endemic to the island of Tenerife, in the Canary Islands during the Middle Pleistocene.
The Gran Canaria giant tortoise is an extinct species of cryptodire turtle in the family Testudinidae endemic to the island of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands.
Centrochelys is a genus of tortoise. It contains one living species, the African spurred tortoise, native to the Sahel and adjacent areas. A number of fossil species have been attributed to this genus, but their placement in the genus is considered equivocal.
The Sonoran Desert tortoise, or Morafka's desert tortoise, is a species of terrestrial chelonian reptile of the family Testudinidae (tortoises) native to the Sonoran Desert.
Phrynops paranaensis is an extinct species of turtle in the family Chelidae. This fossil species is from the Huayquerian Ituzaingó Formation of the Paraná Basin, Argentina, likely to be late Miocene in origin.
Titanochelon is an extinct genus of giant tortoises known from the Early Miocene to the beginning of the Pleistocene in Europe, extending from the Iberian Peninsula to Anatolia. Some members of the genus were larger than extant giant tortoises, with a shell length of up to 2 m.
Chelonoidis alburyorum is an extinct species of giant tortoise that lived in the Lucayan Archipelago from the Late Pleistocene to around 1400 CE. The species was discovered and described by Richard Franz and Shelley E. Franz, the findings being published in 2009.
Solitudo is an extinct genus of tortoise that was found during the Pliocene and Pleistocene on the Mediterranean islands of Menorca, Malta and Sicily. The genus includes three described species, Solitudo robusta, Solitudo gymnesica and Solitudo sicula as well as a likely fourth, undescribed species from Monte Pellegrino in Sicily. Solitudo sicula, the youngest of the species, died out approximately 12.5 thousand years BP. The largest species, Solitudo gymnesica, has been estimated to have reached a carapace length of 1.1–1.3 m (3.6–4.3 ft).
Chelonoidis cubensis, also known as the Cuban giant tortoise, is an extinct species of land tortoise that lived in Cuba from the Late Pleistocene to the Early Holocene. It had a carapace length of between 40 cm and 90 cm. It is thought that the species went extinct through human exploitation.
Chelonoidis monensis, also known as the Mona tortoise, is an extinct species of land tortoise that lived on the island of Mona from the Late Pleistocene to around 1000 BCE. Evidence for the latter date includes cave drawings. All fossil remains have been found either in or near Liro Cave on the east side of Mona. It had a carapace length of around 50 cm (20 in).
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