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Geochelone elegans

(Indian Star Tortoise)

Overview

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Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Click on the language to view common names.

Common Names in English:

Indian Star Tortoise, Indian Starred Tortoise, Star Tortoise

Common Names in German:

Indische Sternschildkr, Indische Sternschildkrote

Description

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Physical Description

Species Geochelone elegans

Smallest Geochelone species. Head yellow to tan, bulging in the nasal region. xMay have black spots on the crown. Carapace elongated with strongly elevated or smooth carapace plates. Each carapace scute has yellow areola with radiating yellow scutes extending to margins . Radiating streaks from intermediate points to scute margins. Marginal scutes have areolae at postero-ventral corners; "stars" are incomplete . Plastron has dark radiations on a light background. Forelimbs yellow to tan with large scales . Tail yellow to tan.

Females to 10 inches. Much larger than males. Broader shells ; frequently the vertebrals and less often the costals are conical in shape . Areola form the vertex . Males to 6 inches. Narrow, relatively smooth shells and dingy markings. Supracaudal scute extended.

Habitat

Sand dunes, brush wood , scrub forests , park jungle. Also in human-altered habitats including waste areas, deserts, scrub lands, plantations.

Biome: Terrestrial [1].

Biology

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Diet

Chiefly herbivorous, but will occasionally take animal food. Eats grass , vegetation, fallen fruit or flowers, and occasionally snails. Likes water more than any other species of this genus.

Reproduction

Copulate during the rainy season (mid-June to mid-October). Males may attempt to turn each other over on their backs.

Female urinates on sand as she excavates nest . 3 to 6 eggs are laid; may lay 2 to 3 clutches per year. Eggs are approximately 1.8 inches long and 1.4 inches wide and weigh 0.7- 1.35 ounces . Shells are very hard, dotted with numerous widely-spaced pores . Incubation 47 to 147 days. Hatchlings lack "star" marks on shell. There are two distinct color variations : orange with yellow vertebral stripe and yellow form without stripe.

There are 5 to 6 black neural blotches dorsally encroaching upon the areolae and 5 black costal blotches on each side. The first blotch points anteriorly; the last points posteriorly. A yellow neural band extends from the margin of the carapace to the areola of the last vertebal scute but one; it is interrupted there and sometimes continues along the last vertebral almost to the supracaudal margin. Ventrally there are 5 pairs of black blotches near sutures between plastral scutes .

Behavior

Most feeding and mobility takes place in the early morning and late afternoon; may be seen abroad at midday. Hides under bushes or tufts of grass .

Taxonomy

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Synonyms

Geochelone elegans Das 1996: 39 • Geochelone elegans Le Et Al. 2006 • Geochelone elegans Mccord & Joseph-Ouni 2004 • Geochelone elegans Pritchard 1967 • Testudo actinodes Gray 1831 • Testudo actinodes [sic] Gray 1831 • Testudo actinodes Dumril & Bibron 1835: 66 • Testudo actinoides Bell 1828 • Testudo elegans • Testudo elegans Schoepff 1795 • Testudo megalopus Blyth 1853 • Testudo stellata Schweigger 1812

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Comment: Types : Not found, but in his original description , Schoepf stated that the specimen illustrated was from the ". . .Museis Hagae Comitis et Harlemi. . ." (? =TSMHN) [cited after KING & BURKE 1989). Wallin 1977, Zoon 5:77-78, demonstrated that the Linnaean type of Testudo geometrica is this species rather than Psammobates geometricus; see further comment under the latter species. See also Smith 1931:138 (as Testudo elegans).

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Geochelone

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 24 species and subspecies in this genus:

G. carbonaria (Red-Footed Tortoise) · G. chilensis (Argentine Tortoise) · G. chilensis chilensis (Southern Wood Tortoise) · G. denticulata (Brazilian Giant Tortoise) · G. elegans (Indian Star Tortoise) · G. elephantophus (Galapagos Giant Tortoise) · G. gigantea (Aldabra Giant Tortoise) · G. nigra (Abingdon Island Tortoise) · G. nigra becki (Volcan Wolf Tortoise) · G. nigra chathamensis (Chatham Island Tortoise) · G. nigra darwini (James Island Tortoise) · G. nigra ephippium (Duncan Island Tortoise) · G. nigra galapagoensis (Charles Island Tortoise) · G. nigra guntheri (Sierra Negra Tortoise) · G. nigra hoodensis (Hood Island Tortoise) · G. nigra microphyes (Volcan Darwin Tortoise) · G. nigra porteri (Indefatigable Island Tortoise) · G. nigra vandenburghi (Volcan Alcedo Tortoise) · G. nigra vicina (Iguana Cove Tortoise) · G. pardalis (Leopard Tortoise) · G. platynota (Burmese Starred Tortoise) · G. radiata (Radiated Tortoise) · G. sulcata (African Spurred Tortoise) · G. yniphora (Angonoka)

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. Asian Turtle Trade Working Group 2000. Geochelone elegans. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 01 February 2012. [back]
Last Revised: 2012-05-01