Kinixys

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title: "Kinixys" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["kinixys", "turtle-genera", "turtles-of-africa", "reptiles-of-sub-saharan-africa", "taxa-named-by-thomas-bell-(zoologist)", "taxonomy-articles-created-by-polbot"] description: "Genus of tortoises" topic_path: "general/kinixys" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinixys" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Genus of tortoises ::

| image = Kinixys belliana nogueyi 1 by diotime.jpg | image_caption = Kinixys nogueyi | taxon = Kinixys | authority = Bell, 1827

Kinixys is a genus of turtles in the family Testudinidae. The genus was erected by Thomas Bell in 1827.

Most of the Kinixys species are omnivores. They feed mainly on a wide range of different leaves, weeds, roots, flowers and fruits. However, they also eat worms, insects and other small invertebrates.

Species

The following species are recognised in the genus Kinixys: thumb|Three species of Kinixys: K. nogueyi, K. erosa, K. homeana. (Illustration G. Aeschimann). ::data[format=table title=""]

Image	Species	Common name
[[File:Kinixys belliana 219976203 (cropped).jpg	frameless]]	Kinixys belliana
[[File:Kinixys erosa 13137126.jpg	frameless]]	Kinixys erosa
[[File:Home's hinge-back tortoise (Kinixys homeana).jpg	frameless]]	Kinixys homeana
[[File:Kinixys lobatsiana 175371696 (cropped).jpg	frameless]]	Kinixys lobatsiana
[[File:Kinixys natalensis 106015820.jpg	frameless]]	Kinixys natalensis
[[File:Kinixys nogueyi 218500289 (cropped).jpg	frameless]]	Kinixys nogueyi
[[File:Speke's Hingeback Tortoise (Kinixys spekii) (14027958683).jpg	frameless]]	Kinixys spekii
[[File:Kinixys zombensis zombensis 1360754 (cropped).jpg	frameless]]	Kinixys zombensis
::

Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Kinixys.

Distribution and habitat

The several species of the genus Kinxys are found across much of tropical and sub-tropical sub-Saharan Africa, ranging as far south as KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, and as far north as the fringes of the Sahel and Sahara. However, individuals are often very scarce within this range, and several species are threatened.

Though the species' wide geographic ranges overlap considerably, they are separated from each other by favouring different habitats within this range. Some species (such as K. belliana) favour open savannah or grasslands, others (such as K. homeana) favour rainforest.

Parasites

Species of tortoises in the genus Kinixys play host to a number of ectoparasites (external) and endoparasites (internal). A survey (by Alan Probert & Clive Humphreys) of mixed captive K. spekii and K. belliana (mostly K. spekii) in Zimbabwe showed that the following parasites were known to infest/infect this species. This had been observed and published by others too. However some of the tiny roundworms (photographed under scanning electron microscope) are very likely new species and as yet remain undescribed.

• Ticks (Arachnida)
• Roundworms (Nematoda) – Angusticium, Atractis and Tachygontria

References

References

1. link. (2012-10-21)
2. "The Hinge-Back Tortoises". britishcheloniagroup.org.uk.
3. "Natural History and Care of Bell's Hinged Tortoise". kingsnake.com.
4. {{NRDB genus
5. Branch, Bill. (2012). ["Tortoises, Terrapins & Turtles of Africa"]({{Google books). Penguin Random House South Africa.
6. (2012). "Molecular phylogeny of African hinge-back tortoises (''Kinixys''): implications for phylogeography and taxonomy (Testudines: Testudinidae): Molecular phylogeny of hinge-back tortoises". Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::