Kinixys

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Kinixys is a genus of turtles in the family Testudinidae. The genus was erected by Thomas Bell in 1827.[1][2] The species in the genus Kinixys are native to Sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar[2] and commonly known as hinged tortoises[3] or hinge-back tortoises.[2][4]

Most of the Kinixys species are omnivores. They feed mainly on a wide range of different leaves, weeds, roots, flowers and fruits. However, they also eat worms, insects and other small invertebrates.[5][6]

Species

The following species are recognised in the genus Kinixys:[1]

File:Genus Kinixys (english).jpg
Three species of Kinixys: K. nogueyi, K. erosa, K. homeana. (Illustration G. Aeschimann).
Image Species Common name
File:Kinixys belliana 219976203 (cropped).jpg Kinixys belliana

(Gray, 1830)

Bell's hinge-back tortoise
File:Kinixys erosa 13137126.jpg Kinixys erosa

(Schweigger, 1812)

forest hinge-back tortoise
File:Home's hinge-back tortoise (Kinixys homeana).jpg Kinixys homeana

Bell, 1827

Home's hinge-back tortoise
File:Kinixys lobatsiana 175371696 (cropped).jpg Kinixys lobatsiana

(Power, 1927)

Lobatse hinge-back tortoise
File:Kinixys natalensis 106015820.jpg Kinixys natalensis

Hewitt, 1935

Natal hinge-back tortoise
File:Kinixys nogueyi 218500289 (cropped).jpg Kinixys nogueyi

Hewitt, 1935

Western hinge-back tortoise
File:Speke's Hingeback Tortoise (Kinixys spekii) (14027958683).jpg Kinixys spekii

Gray, 1863

Speke's hinge-back tortoise
File:Kinixys zombensis zombensis 1360754 (cropped).jpg Kinixys zombensis

Hewitt, 1931

Eastern hinge-back tortoise

Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Kinixys.

Distribution and habitat

The several species of the genus Kinxys are found across much of tropical and sub-tropical sub-Saharan Africa, ranging as far south as KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, and as far north as the fringes of the Sahel and Sahara. However, individuals are often very scarce within this range, and several species are threatened.

Though the species' wide geographic ranges overlap considerably, they are separated from each other by favouring different habitats within this range. Some species (such as K. belliana) favour open savannah or grasslands, others (such as K. homeana) favour rainforest.

Parasites

Species of tortoises in the genus Kinixys play host to a number of ectoparasites (external) and endoparasites (internal). A survey (by Alan Probert & Clive Humphreys) of mixed captive K. spekii and K. belliana (mostly K. spekii) in Zimbabwe showed that the following parasites were known to infest/infect this species. This had been observed and published by others too. However some of the tiny roundworms (photographed under scanning electron microscope) are very likely new species and as yet remain undescribed.

  • Ticks (Arachnida)
  • Roundworms (Nematoda) – Angusticium, Atractis and Tachygontria

References

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  1. ^ a b Kinixys at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 30 September 2022.
  2. ^ a b c Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Kindler, Carolin; Branch, William R.; Hofmeyr, Margaretha D.; Maran, Jérôme; Široký, Pavel; Vences, Miguel; Harvey, James; Hauswaldt, J. Susanne; Schleicher, Alfred; Stuckas, Heiko & Fritz, Uwe (2012). "Molecular phylogeny of African hinge-back tortoises (Kinixys): implications for phylogeography and taxonomy (Testudines: Testudinidae): Molecular phylogeny of hinge-back tortoises". Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research. 50 (3): 192–201. doi:10.1111/j.1439-0469.2012.00660.x.
  3. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Branch, Bill (2012). Tortoises, Terrapins & Turtles of Africa. Penguin Random House South Africa.
  4. ^ Kirkpatrick, D. (1998). "African Hingeback Tortoises of the Genus Kinixys". Reptile & Amphibian Magazine. 54: 32-37. Script error: No such module "webarchive".
  5. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."The Hinge-Back Tortoises". britishcheloniagroup.org.uk.
  6. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Natural History and Care of Bell's Hinged Tortoise". kingsnake.com.

Further reading

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  • Bell, T. (1827). "On two new Genera of Land Tortoises". The Transactions of the Linnean Society of London. 15: 392–401. (Kinixys, new genus, p. 398). (in English and Latin).

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