Zoogeography and Conservation Priority of Hard shelled Freshwater Turtles on Hainan Island

Hard-shelled freshwater turtles on Hainan Island are very rich and the fauna is also very distinctive. A total of 11 species were found on Hainan Island, accounting for 46% of total species in China. These species belong to 2 families and 8 genera. All these species belong to the Oriental Realm, of which 4 species belong to the South China Region accounting for 36.4%, 7 species belong to the Central-South Region accounting for 63.6%, 2 species areendemic to Hainan Island accounting for 18.2%. Species density reaches 3.2/10~(4) km~(2). A total of 19 species of hard shelled freshwater turtles are recorded in South China accounting for 79.2% of China. The species of Hainan Island account for 57.9% of South China, while the fauna of Hainan Island is closely related to these of Guangdong, Guangxi and Hong Kong. The biotic resemblance value between Hainan Island and Guangdong is 0.76, 0.64 between Hainan Island and Guangxi and 0.47 between Hainan Island and Hong Kong. Seventy-five percent of freshwater turtles of China are endangered, while 81.8% are endangered on Hainan Island. The Analysis indicates that hard shelled freshwater turtles on Hainan Island have high conservation priority.