Scientists track down turtle, previously found only in markets
In the early 1990s, biologists in southeast Asia discovered a species of turtle unknown to science. But there was a catch: They didn’t know where it came from. Cuora picturata, as the new turtle was formally named, was found only in markets where it was sold for food.
Nearly two decades later, a clever piece of biological sleuthing has found the native home of C. picturata. The discovery offers hope not just to C. picturata, but to other turtle species known only from markets.
“It’s frustrating. You see this animal being exploited, and likely facing extinction,” said Bryan Stuart, a biologist at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, whose search for C. picturata’s home was described April 1 in Biological Sciences. “But there’s little that conservation can do, because we’re missing the basic information necessary for conservation: Where does this species occur in the wild?”
(Source: sciencecenter)
