The status of wild populations of the Critically Endangered Madagascar spider tortoise Pyxis arachnoides.

Introduction The Madagascar spider tortoise (Pyxis arachnoides Bell, 1827) is a small, cryptic species endemic to southwest Mada gas car (Fig. 1). This is one of the smallest species of tortoise in the world, with a domed carapace mea­ suring up to 200mm (curved cara­ pace length) in mature individuals (Walker et al. 2007). The species inhabits the biologically unique dry coastal spiny forests of southwest Madagascar (Pedro no 2008, Walker et al. in press; Fig. 2), one of the most threatened habitats within Mada gas­ car (Har per et al. 2007, Walker et al. 2012a, 2012b). Despite a recent great­ er under standing of the population dynamics of the species, there is still very little knowledge of the species’ biology. Rhodin et al. (2011) describe P. arachnoides as one of the world’s top 40 threatened species of che­ lonian. Protecting wild populations of this species is a challenge due to the wide ranging conservation issues The status of wild populations of the Critically Endangered Madagascar spider tortoise Pyxis arachnoides.