CreatureData

Sand softshell turtle

Pelodiscus axenaria (Zhou, Zhang & Fang, 1991)

Status not recordedturtles and tortoises

The sand softshell turtle (Pelodiscus axenaria) is a species in the family Trionychidae, order Testudines. Source checklists list it for 1 country: China.

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Quick facts about the sand softshell turtle

Weight
Not recorded
Length
up to 12.9 cm
Lifespan
Not recorded
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Young per litter or clutch
Not recorded
Reproduction
Eggs
Lifestyle
Aquatic
Conservation status
Not recorded
Countries on record
1 countrysrc for Countries on record

Where does the sand softshell turtle live?

Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.

The sand softshell turtle is listed for 1 country.

China
  • Listed
  • Not listed
small islands are not drawn at this scale

The same countries as a list

  1. China

Why a country list is not a range map

Is the sand softshell turtle endangered?

No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.

How is the sand softshell turtle classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classReptilia
  4. orderTestudines
  5. familyTrionychidae
  6. genusPelodiscus
  7. SpeciesPelodiscus axenaria (Zhou, Zhang & Fang, 1991)

Synonyms Pelodiscus shipian, Trionyx axenaria

Other names and names in other languages (10)
  • Central Chinese softshell turtleEnglish
  • Chinese stone slab soft-shelled turtle [shipian]English
  • Hunan softshell turtleEnglish
  • سلحفاة هونان لينة الدرقةArabic
  • kožnatka hunanskáCzech
  • Hunan-WeichschildkröteGerman
  • Hunan-weekschildpadDutch
  • 砂鱉Chinese
  • 砂鳖Chinese
  • 石片鳖 (shi pian bie) [shipian]Chinese

Catalogue of Life

Relatives of the sand softshell turtle

Other species in the same genus Pelodiscus.

CompareSand softshell turtle vs Chinese softshellSand softshell turtle vs Amur softshell turtleSand softshell turtle vs Lesser Chinese softshell turtleSand softshell turtle vs Spotted softshell turtle

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

Where does the sand softshell turtle live?

Catalogue of Life checklists list the sand softshell turtle for 1 country: China. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.

What kind of animal is the sand softshell turtle?

The sand softshell turtle (Pelodiscus axenaria) belongs to the family Trionychidae in the order Testudines.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-13. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Sand softshell turtle (Pelodiscus axenaria). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/sand-softshell-turtle

MLA

“Sand softshell turtle (Pelodiscus axenaria).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/sand-softshell-turtle.

BibTeX
@misc{sand_softshell_turtle_2026,
  title = {Sand softshell turtle (Pelodiscus axenaria)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/sand-softshell-turtle},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-13}
}