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Pyxis arachnoides BELL, 1827

IUCN Red List - Pyxis arachnoides - Critically Endangered, CR
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Higher TaxaTestudinidae, Testudinoidea, Testudines (turtles)
SubspeciesPyxis arachnoides arachnoides BELL 1827
Pyxis arachnoides brygooi VUILLEMIN & DOMERGUE 1972
Pyxis arachnoides oblonga GRAY 1869 
Common NamesE: Madagascan Spider Tortoise
G: Madagassische Spinnenschildkröte
brygooi: Northern Spider Tortoise 
SynonymPyxis arachnoides arachnoides
Pyxis arachnoides BELL 1827
Pyxis aranoides GRAY 1831 (nomen subst. pro Pyxis arachnoides BELL)
Pyxis madagascariensis LESSON 1831 (synonymy uncertain)
Pyxis arachnoides — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1835: 156
Pyxis Arachnoides — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1854: 222
Pyxis (Pyxis) arachnoides — KUCHLING 1989
Pyxis arachnoides — ERNST & BARBOUR 1989: 233
Pyxis (Pyxis) arachnoides — GLAW & VENCES 1994: 224
Pyxis arachnoides — FRITZ & BININDA-EMONDS 2007
Pyxis arachnoides arachnoides — TTWG 2021

Pyxis arachnoides brygooi (VUILLEMIN & DOMERGUE 1972)
Pyxoides brygooi VUILLEMIN & DOMERGUE 1972
Pyxis arachnoides brygooi — WALKER 2010
Pyxis arachnoides brygooi — TTWG 2021

Pyxis arachnoides oblonga GRAY 1869
Pyxis arachnoides var. oblonga GRAY 1869
Pyxis arachnoides matzi BOUR 1978
Pyxis arachnoides oblonga — TTWG 2014: 406
Pyxis arachnoides oblonga — TTWG 2021 
DistributionMadagascar (along the S coast from the Mahajamba River southward around Cape Sainte-Marie almost to Fort-Dauphin)

Type locality: Unknown; designated as "Soalara (Baie de Saint-Augustin), sud-ouest de Madagascar" by Bour 1978:153.

brygooi: SW Madagascar (Mikea Forest). Type locality: “entre Morombe et Tuléar, aux alentours du lac Ihotry, dans la forêt des Mikea”.  
Reproductionoviparous. 
TypesLectotype: OUM 13a (=1092) designated by Bour 1978:153. Paralectotypes: OUM 8528
Holotype: BMNH 1861.3.20.31 [oblonga]
Holotype: MNHN-RA A0277 [brygooi] 
DiagnosisAdditional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (3838 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentConservation: Threatened.

Subspecies: CHIARI et al. (2005) suggest to treat the three subspecies of Pyxis arachnoides “as a separate entities for conservation” -- whatever that may mean.

Type species: Pyxis arachnoides BELL 1827 is the type species of the genus Pyxis BELL 1827 (non Pyxis CHEMNITZ 1784 = nomen illegitimum: Direction 2, ICZN, 1956; non Pyxis CHEVROLAT 184 = Coleoptera; non Pyxis HERMANNSEN 1848 =Gastropoda; non Pyxis STEFANI 1877 = Lamellibranchiata; following WERMUTH & MERTENS 1977). 
References
  • Augustine, Lauren and Robin Saunders. 2015. Pyxis arachnoides arachnoides (common spider tortoise) egg shell repair. Herpetological Review 46 (4): 544-545 - get paper here
  • Barley, Shanta and Ryan C.J. Walker 2013. Population Density and Seasonal Detection Rates of a Unique Population of Critically Endangered <br>Northern Madagascar Spider Tortoise (Pyxis arachnoides brygooi). Herp. Cons. Biol. 8 (3) - get paper here
  • Baur, M. 2014. Ernährungsbedingte Erkrankungen bei Landschildkröten. Reptilia (Münster) 19 (105): 58-66
  • Baur, Markus 2013. Zehn Fragen zur Ernährung von Landschildkröten. Draco 13 (54): 68-79 - get paper here
  • Bell, T. 1827. On two new genera of land tortoises. Transactions of the Linnean Society of London 15: 392-401. - get paper here
  • Bonin, F., Devaux, B. & Dupré, A. 2006. Turtles of the World. English translation by P.C.H. Pritchard. Johns Hopkins University Press, 416 pp.
  • Bour, R. 1979. Les tortues actuelles de Madagascar (République Malagache): liste systématique et description de deux sous-espèces nouvelles (Reptilia-Testudines). Bulletin de la Société Etude des Sciences Anjou, N.S. 10:141-154 [1978]
  • Caccone, Adalgisa; George Amato; Oliver C. Gratry; John Behler and Jeffrey R. Powell 1999. A Molecular Phylogeny of Four Endangered Madagascar Tortoises Based on MtDNA Sequences. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 12 (1): 1–9 - get paper here
  • Chiari, Y., M. Thomas, M. Pedrono & D.R. Vieites 2005. Preliminary data on genetic differentiation within the Madagascar spider tortoise, Pyxis arachnoides (Bell, 1827). Salamandra 41 (1-2): 35-44 - get paper here
  • Currylow, A. F. 2012. Pyxis arachnoides arachnoides (spider tortoise) drinking behavior. Herpetological Review 43: 608 - get paper here
  • Duméril, A. M.C., G. BIBRON & A. DUMÉRIL 1854. Erpétologie générale ou Histoire Naturelle complète des Reptiles. Vol. 9. Paris, XX + 440 S. - get paper here
  • Duméril, A.M.C., and G. Bibron. 1835. Erpétologie Générale ou Histoire Naturelle Complète des Reptiles, Vol. 2. Librairie Encyclopédique de Roret, Paris, iv + 680 p. - get paper here
  • Ernst,C.H. and Barbour,R.W. 1989. Turtles of the World. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C. - London
  • Fritz, Uwe and Olaf R.P. Bininda-Emonds 2007. When genes meet nomenclature: Tortoise phylogeny and the shifting generic concepts of Testudo and Geochelone. Zoology 110 (4): 298-307 [erratum in vol. 111 (1): 84] - get paper here
  • Gardner CJ, Raxworthy CJ, Metcalfe K, Raselimanana AP, Smith RJ, Davies ZG 2015. Comparing Methods for Prioritising Protected Areas for Investment: A Case Study Using Madagascar’s Dry Forest Reptiles. PLoS One 10 (7): e0132803, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0132803 - get paper here
  • Gray, J.E. 1869. Notes on the families and genera of tortoises (Testudinata), and on the characters afforded by the study of their skulls. Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1869: 165-225. - get paper here
  • Kuchling, G. 1989. Ökologie, Lebensweise und Überlebenschancen der Landschildkröten Madagaskars. Salamandra 25 (3-4): 169-190 - get paper here
  • Orozco-terWengel, P., Y. Chiari, D.R. Vieites, M. Pedrono & E. Louis, Jr. 2013. Isolation and characterization of six polymorphic microsatellite loci for the Malagasy spider tortoise, Pyxis arachnoides and cross-amplification in Pyxis planicauda Amphibia-Reptilia, 34(1): 125-128. - get paper here
  • Soler, J. & A. Martínez Silvestre 2011. Die Spinnenschildkröte Pyxis arachnoides. Reptilia (Münster) 16 (89): 72-76 - get paper here
  • TTWG [Peter Paul van Dijk, John B. Iverson, Anders G.J. Rhodin, H. Bradley Shaffer, and Roger Bour] 2014. Turtles of the World, 7th Edition: Annotated Checklist of Taxonomy, Synonymy, Distribution with Maps, and Conservation Status. 000.v7. Chelonian Research Monographs (ISSN 1088-7105) No. 5, doi:10.3854/crm.5.000.checklist.v7.2014 - get paper here
  • TTWG; Rhodin, A.G.J., Iverson, J.B., Bour, R., Fritz, U., Georges, A., Shaffer, H.B., and van Dijk, P.P. 2021. Turtles of the World: Annotated Checklist and Atlas of Taxonomy, Synonymy, Distribution, and Conservation Status (9th Ed.). In: Rhodin, A.G.J., Iverson, J.B., van Dijk, P.P., Stanford, C.B., Goode, E.V., Buhlmann, K.A., and Mittermeier, R.A. (Eds.). Chelonian Research Monographs 8:1–472. doi:10.3854/crm.8.checklist.atlas.v9.2021. - get paper here
  • Valverde, J. 2005. African Tortoises. Reptilia (GB) (43): 12-20 - get paper here
  • Valverde, J. 2005. Afrikanische Landschildkröten. Reptilia (Münster) 10 (56): 18-25 - get paper here
  • Vinke, T. & Vinke, S. 2005. The tortoises of Africa. Diversity through adaptation to extreme habitats. Reptilia (GB) (43): 21-25 - get paper here
  • Vinke, T. & Vinke, S. 2005. Die Lanschildkröten Afrikas - Vielfalt durch Anpassung an extreme Lebensräume. Reptilia (Münster) 10 (56): 26-28 - get paper here
  • Vuillemin, Simone & Domergue, Charles 1972. Contribution a l'étude de la fauna de Madagascar: Description de Pyxoides brygooi n. gen. n. sp. (Testudinidae). Annales de l'Université de Madagascar (9): 193-200
  • Walker, Ryan C. J. 2010. The Decline of the Critically Endangered Northern Madagascar Spider Tortoise (Pyxis arachnoides brygooi). Herpetologica 66 (4): 411-417 - get paper here
  • Walker, Ryan C. J. 2011. The Development of a Cost Effective Method for Measuring the Variation of Area in Contrasting Scute Pigmentation in Chelonians. Herp. Cons. Biol. 6 (1) - get paper here
  • Walker, Ryan; Luiselli, Luca; Rafeliarisoa, Tsilavo 2012. Survival probability of a population of Madagascar spider tortoises (Pyxis arachnoides). Amphibia-Reptilia 33 (1): 141-144 - get paper here
  • Walker, Ryan; Rafeliarisoa, Tsilavo; Currylow, Andrea; Rakotoniaina, Jean Claude; Louis Jr, Edward 2014. Short term monitoring reveals the rapid decline of southern Madagascar's Critically Endangered tortoise species. The Herpetological Journal 24 (3): 193-196 - get paper here
 
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