Testudo (genus)
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 Four tortoises in the genus Testudo. Clockwise from left, Testudo graeca ibera, Testudo hermanni boettgeri, Testudo hermanni hermanni, and Testudo marginata sarda.
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Testudo is a genus of tortoises found in North Africa, Asia, and Europe. All species are under threat in the wild, mainly from habitat destruction.
They are small tortoises, ranging in length from 7 cm to 35 cm and in weight from 0.7 kg to 7 kg. Like most tortoises, they are herbivorous.
[edit] Classification
The classification of Testudo is uncertain. Highfield and Martin comment:
- Synonymies on Testudo are notoriously difficult to compile with any degree of accuracy. The status of species referred have undergone a great many changes, each change introducing an additional level of complexity and making bibliographic research on the taxa extremely difficult. Most early and not a few later checklists contain a very high proportion of entirely spurious entries, and a considerable number of described species are now considered invalid -either because they are homonyms, non-binomial or for some other reason.
ITIS list five species in the genus, as of 1997:
- Testudo graeca Linnaeus, 1758 (Greek Tortoise, Spur-Thighed Tortoise)
- Testudo hermanni Gmelin, 1789 (Herman's Tortoise)
- Testudo horsfieldii Gray, 1844 (Russian Tortoise, Horsfield's Tortoise)
- Testudo kleinmanni Lortet, 1883 (Egyptian Tortoise)
- Testudo marginata Schoepff, 1792 (Marginated Tortoise)
Testudo hermanni has recently been moved to a separate genus, Eurotestudo. So its new scientific name is Eurotestudo hermanni.
Khozatsky and Mlynarski (1966) argued that T. horsfieldii belonged in a new genus (Agrionemys) on the basis of the shape of its carapace and plastron.
Highfield and Martin argue that two subspecies of T. graeca should be elevated to species status:[1]
- Testudo zarudnyi Nikolski, 1896 (formerly T. g. zarudnyi, native to Eastern Iran).
- Testudo ibera Pallas, 1814 (formerly T. g. ibera, native to the Caucasus).
Other proposed species include:
- Testudo tabulata (Brazilian Tortoise)
- Testudo werneri Perälä, 2001 (Negev Tortoise)
Also, there is the extinct Testudo atlas, which, unlike its modern relatives, was a gigantic creature.
[edit] References
- ^ a A. C. Highfield & J. Martin. A revision of the Testudines of North Africa, Asia and Europe: genus Testudo. Retrieved on January 8, 2006.
- ^ ITIS Report: Testudo Linnaeus, 1758. Retrieved on January 8, 2006.
- ^ L. I. Khozatsky & M. Mlynarski (1966). "Agrionemys - nouveau genre de tortues terrestres (Testudinidae)". Bull. Ac. Polon. Sci. 2: 123-125.
- ^ NeMys Report: Eurotestudo hermanni (Gmelin, 1789). Retrieved on February 22, 2006.
