Hunan softshell turtle

{{Short description|Species of turtle}}

{{Speciesbox

| image =

| status = NE

| status_system = IUCN2.3

| status_ref = {{harvnb|Rhodin|van Dijk|Iverson|Shaffer|Roger|2010|p=000.208}}

| status2 = CITES_A2

| status2_system = CITES

| status2_ref = {{Cite web|title=Appendices {{!}} CITES|url=https://cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php|access-date=2022-01-14|website=cites.org}}

| genus = Pelodiscus

| species = axenaria

| authority = (Zhou, Zhang & Fang 1991)

| synonyms =

• Trionyx axenaria
  {{small|Zhou, Zhang & Fang, 1991}}
• Pelodiscus axenaria
  {{small|— David, 1994}}
• Pelodiscus axenarius
  {{small|— Bour, 2002}}

| synonyms_ref = {{Cite journal |journal=Vertebrate Zoology |title=Checklist of Chelonians of the World |year=2007 |author=Fritz, Uwe |author2=Havaš, Peter. |volume=57 |issue=2 |pages=318 |doi=10.3897/vz.57.e30895 |doi-access=free |issn=1864-5755 |url=https://zenodo.org/records/7511437/files/VZ_article_30895.pdf }}

}}

The Hunan softshell turtle (Pelodiscus axenaria) is a species of turtle in the family Trionychidae, the softshells. It is endemic to China, where it occurs in Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Jiangxi provinces.[http://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Pelodiscus&species=axenaria Pelodiscus axenaria.] Reptile Database.{{Cite book |last=Rhodin |first=Anders G.J. |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.3854/crm.8.checklist.atlas.v9.2021 |title=Turtles of the World: Annotated Checklist and Atlas of Taxonomy, Synonymy, Distribution, and Conservation Status (9th Ed.). |date=2021-11-15 |publisher=Chelonian Research Foundation and Turtle Conservancy |isbn=978-0-9910368-3-7 |series=Chelonian Research Monographs|volume=8 |doi=10.3854/crm.8.checklist.atlas.v9.2021 }} It is found in Taoyuan, Pingjiang, Rucheng, Lingling, and Shaoyang counties of Hunan province (Zhou, Zhang & Fang, 1991).

The meaning of the epithet "axenaria" is unknown; Gong et al. (2022) suggested that it might be a misspelling of arenaria, which means "of sand" in Latin.