Burmese Star Tortoise (Geochelone platynota) Fact Sheet: Taxonomy & History

Taxonomy

• Assigned to genus Geochelone in 1957 (Platt et al. 2011)
• Previously member of genus Testudo (Blyth 1863)
• No recognized subspecies (Platt et al. 2011)
• See Platt et al. (2011) for detailed discussion

Synonyms

• Geochelone platynota (Platt et al. 2011; Turtle Taxonomy Working Group 2021)
• Geochelone elegans platynota (Platt et al. 2011; Turtle Taxonomy Working Group 2021)
• Peltastes platynotus (Platt et al. 2011; Turtle Taxonomy Working Group 2021)
• Testudo platynota (Platt et al. 2011; Praschag et al. 2020)
• Testudo platynotus (Blyth 1863; Turtle Taxonomy Working Group 2021)

Fossil history and evolutionary relationships

• Evolutionary clade group containing G. platynota originated in Africa and dispersed to Asia (Le et al. 2006)

Closest extant/living relatives

• Indian Star Tortoise, Geochelone elegans (Pritchard 1979; Le et al. 2006)

Common names

• Burmese Star Tortoise, Flatback Tortoise, Myanmar Star Tortoise (English) (Aye and Minn 2019; Praschag et al. 2020)
• Tortue Étoilée de Birmanie (French) (Praschag et al. 2020)
• Tortuga Estrellada de Burma (Spanish) (Praschag et al. 2020)

Local names

• Kye leik (Platt et al. 2011)
• Translates as “star turtle”
• Mangyi leik, pankyar leik, seijo leik (Platt et al. 2018)
• Appear to refer to shell patterns and culinary-related uses

History

• Limited historical data on this and other tortoise species in Myanmar (van Dijk 1997)
  • Best historical data: from 1860 to 1940
  • Country closed to foreign scientists from 1962 to approximately early 1990s (S.G. Platt, personal communication, 2022)

Culture and folklore

• Special uses
  • Shell previously used by Burmese people as a vessel (Smith 1931)
    • Used by Burmese people to bail “oil out of earthen vessels” (Blyth 1863)
    • Used by vendors to measure oil (Theobald 1868)
• Local beliefs
  • Some Burmese communities believe that tortoise flesh causes skin diseases; tortoises not commonly eaten (van Dijk 1997)
    • Eaten only if no other food is available
  • Some local people (e.g., at Myaleik Taung) believe tortoises protected by mountain spirits (Platt et al. 2001; Platt et al. 2003)
    • “A person who harms or even unduly disturbs a tortoise faces retribution in the form of misfortune, sickness or even death” (Platt et al. 2003)
    • Provides some degree of protection in these rural areas but not from professional hunters who do not hold these beliefs areas (see Platt et al. 2011; Thanda Swe, cited by Platt et al. 2011)
    • Engraved religious markings on shell may deter some poachers (Platt and Platt 2020)
      • Also see “Conservation breeding and Reintroduction”

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Reptilia — reptiles

Order: Testudines (Laurenti, 1768) — tortoises, turtles, terrapins

Family: Testudidae (Batsch, 1788)

Genus: Geochelone (Fitzinger, 1835)

Species: Geochelone platynota (Blyth, 1863) — Burmese Star Tortoise, Flatback Tortoise- common name

Sources: Praschag et al. (2020), ITIS (2022)