The box turtle is one of several species of turtles. It can refer to either those of the genera Cuora or Pyxidea, which are the Asian box turtles, or more commonly to species of the genus Terrapene, the North American box turtles. They are largely characterized by having a domed shell, but the two genera are otherwise very different in habitat, behaviour and appearance, and as such are not even classified in the same family.

Taxonomy

Asian box turtles

Family Geoemydidae
Genus Cuora

• Amboina Box Turtle, Cuora amboinensis (Suckow, 1798)
• Yellow-headed Box Turtle, Cuora aurocapitata (Luo & Zong, 1988)
• Snake-eating Turtle, Cuora flavomarginata (Gray, 1863)
• Indochinese Box Turtle, Cuora galbinifrons (Bourret, 1939)
• McCord's Box Turtle, Cuora mccordi (Ernst, 1988)
• Pan's Box Turtle, Cuora pani (Song, 1987)
• Three-banded Box Turtle, Cuora trifasciata (Bell, 1825)
• Yunnan Box Turtle, Cuora yunnanensis (Boulenger, 1906)
• Zhou's Box Turtle, Cuora zhoui (Zhao, 1990)

Genus Pyxidea

• Keeled Box Turtle, Pyxidea mouhotii (Gray, 1862)

North American box turtles

Family Emydidae
Genus Terrapene

• Terrapene carolina
  • Florida Box Turtle, Terrapene carolina bauri (Taylor, 1894)
  • Eastern Box Turtle, Terrapene carolina carolina (Linnaeus, 1758)
  • Gulf Coast Box Turtle, Terrapene carolina major (Agassiz, 1857)
  • Three-toed Box Turtle, Terrapene carolina triunguis (Agassiz, 1857)
  • Mexican Box Turtle, Terrapene carolina mexicana (Gray, 1849)
  • Yucatan Box Turtle, Terrapene carolina yucatana (Boulenger, 1895)
• Coahuilan Box Turtle, Terrapene coahuila (Schmidt & Owens, 1944)
• Spotted Box Turtle, Terrapene nelsoni (Stejneger, 1925)
• Terrapene ornata
  • Ornate Box Turtle, Terrapene ornata ornata (Agassiz, 1857)
  • Desert Box Turtle, Terrapene ornata luteola (Smith & Ramsey, 1952)

References

• EMBL Reptile Database
• Integrated Taxonomic Information Service

Turtles