Bells hingeback

[SeeShell]

Would anyone know how many recognised sub-species there are of bells? Also what they are?
Thanks

[NATURALIS]

Originally Posted by SeeShell

Would anyone know how many recognised sub-species there are of bells? Also what they are?
Thanks

four!, K.B . BELLIANA = BELLS HINGE BACK
K.B. DOMERGUEI = MADEGASCAN HINDE BACK
K.B. NOGEUYI = WESTERN HINGE BACK
K.B. ZOMBENSIS = SOUTHEASTERN HINGE BACK

[egyptiandan64]

Right now it's 4 subspecies being recognised Corra Though no one is exactly sure yet if the subspecies on Madagascar is native or was introduced. They are as follows

Kinixys belliana belliana from Central African Republic, Congo (DRC), Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda

K.b.domerguei from Madagascar (prehistoric introduction?)

K.b.nogueyi from Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad(?), Equatorial Guinea(?), Gabon(?), Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger(?), Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo

K.b.zombensis from Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa and Tanzania

Danny

[yuna1971]

...And for the exact same answers there - Daniel and Brian, you both get 10 points.

xx

[yuna1971]

Daniel - you might get a few bonus points. As you named their habitat....

[SeeShell]

Thanks guys; that's great. What about specki (or something similar!) or am I just imagining this?

[Geomyda]

Originally Posted by SeeShell

Thanks guys; that's great. What about specki (or something similar!) or am I just imagining this?

Speke's Hinged Tortoise, Kinixys spekiii, named after John Hanning Speke, the Victorian explorer whom, is credited with finding the source of the Nile, is a separate species of African Hinged Tortoise which occurs in the Savanah and Coastal plain in Central, and eastern Africa.

[NATURALIS]

Originally Posted by yuna1971

...And for the exact same answers there - Daniel and Brian, you both get 10 points.

xx

Hey !! , i answered the question first .

[EJ]

Depends if you recognise subspecies... many taxonomists do not.

[Geomyda]

Originally Posted by EJ

Depends if you recognise subspecies... many taxonomists do not.

Taxonomists, like economists, have differing opinions. Only today, there is a very interesting story from Germany about the genetic make up of Chinese Soft shell turtles. It seems, that this highly exploited group which are being farmed in South east Asia, in almost unimaginable numbers, seem now to be not one species but a whole group of different races, sub species and maybe even full species?
Surprise? No not really. if you consider the number of river systems on the Chinese mainland, some of which Havel been geographically isolated for Centuries, if not millennia. These are the ingredients for creating different species. How is it, that north America, can have such species diversity yet China currently recognises so few?