Yellow-margined Box Turtle in Xin County

Yellow-margined Box Turtle in Xin County

　　The Yellow-margined Box Turtle in Xin County is a specialty of Xin County, Xinyang City, Henan Province. This turtle holds high economic value, with tender meat that is delicious and flavorful, making it regarded as a precious tonic.

　　The Yellow-margined Box Turtle, also known as the Broken-plate Turtle, Golden-headed Turtle, or Money Turtle, belongs to the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Reptilia, order Testudines, family Geoemydidae, subfamily Geoemydinae. It is a medium-sized turtle species with an olive-green head and a golden-yellow stripe along each side of the head. Its plastron is connected to the carapace by ligaments at the front and back, and the pectoral scutes can close upward over the carapace, hence the name "Broken-plate Turtle." It has five vertebral scutes, four pairs of costal scutes, and twelve pairs of marginal scutes, each with darker edges. The plastron is brownish-black, with the outer edges of the abdominal scutes, the lower outer edges of the carapace, and the skin being light beige. The limbs are brownish-black on the dorsal side and lighter on the ventral side. There is a yellow longitudinal stripe on the tail. In China, it is only distributed in a few provinces such as Henan, Hubei, Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Hunan, Fujian, and Taiwan.

　　Xin County is located in the heart of the Dabie Mountains and on the watershed between the Yangtze River and Huai River basins, making it one of the main habitats of the Yellow-margined Box Turtle. The total distribution area within the county covers 965 square kilometers, accounting for 60% of the county’s area, involving 13 townships. Six of these townships have higher concentrations (Zhouhe Township, Daijiao Township, Tianpu Township, Sidian Township, Balifan Town, and Shawo Town, spanning 32 administrative villages and 330.6 square kilometers), while other townships such as Jianchanghe, Chen店, Hewan, Qianjin, Douoshanhe, Wuchenhe, and Guojiahe have fewer. In terms of river systems, 123 villages are located in the Huai River basin, while only 33 are in the Yangtze River basin.

　　The Yellow-margined Box Turtle is a very ancient animal, often referred to as a “living fossil.” It holds high economic value, with tender meat that is delicious and flavorful, making it regarded as a precious tonic. It also has excellent medicinal properties, capable of nourishing yin and subduing yang, detoxifying, fighting cancer, and—when combined with traditional Chinese medicine—helping to prevent and treat various diseases and complex conditions.