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Speckled Cape Tortoise

Homopus signatus

Summary 3

The Speckled tortoise (Homopus signatus), also known as the Speckled Cape tortoise or Speckled padloper, is the world's smallest tortoise. A member of the genus Homopus, it is endemic to South Africa and Southern Namibia.

Diagnosis 3

The males of H. signatus measure 6–8 cm (2.4–3.1 in) in straight carapace length, while the larger females measure up to almost 10 cm (3.9 in); [1] they weigh about 95–165 g (3.4–5.8 oz). This species has a flattened shell with slightly serrated edges. The orange-brown shell is covered in hundreds of black spots. The males have a noticeably concave belly.

This tiny tortoise can be distinguished from the other Homopus species by its speckles, and by five toes on its fore feet (unlike many of its relatives, which have four toes on all four feet).[2]

Conservation 3

H. signatus is threatened by traffic on roads, habitat destruction, and poaching for the pet trade. As the trade in collected Homopus species is strictly illegal and any captive specimens are systematically registered in noncommercial studbooks in South Africa and Namibia, any commercial sale of Homopus tortoises is almost without exception strictly illegal. Another threat comes from introduced species, such as domestic dogs and pigs. [3][4][5][6]

Many are taken from their natural habitat each year, and nearly all subsequently die as a result, as they do not readily adapt to typical captive diets and environmental change. Unlike most other Homopus species, however, their diet (while very varied) is not highly specialized. Therefore, the species can adapt well to captivity, provided that proper attention is paid to temperature, humidity, and a sufficiently varied diet. They can be very hardy in captivity, and most problems with captive care are caused by faulty nutrition, high humidity, dampness, or bad husbandry.[7][8][9]

Sources and Credits 4

  1. Branch, Bill (1998). Field Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Third edition. Struik Publishers. ISBN 1-86872-040-3
  2. Baard EHW (1994). Cape Tortoises: Their identification and care. Cape Nature Conservation.
  3. "Tortoise Trust Web - Field Research: Homopus". www.tortoisetrust.org.
  4. "Homopus signatus (Speckled Cape Tortoise, Speckled Dwarf Tortoise, Speckled Padloper, Speckled Tortoise)". www.iucnredlist.org.
  5. "Herpetofauna of the Rooi Cederberg Karoo Park".
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-08-10. Retrieved 2014-07-30.
  7. Corton, Misty. Homopus (Padloper Tortoise) Care, World Chelonian Trust (retrieved August 20, 2013).
  8. Loehr, Victor. "Namaqualand Speckled Padloper (Homopus s. signatus)", World Chelonian Trust (retrieved August 20, 2013).
  9. Palmer, Mike (1994)."The Speckled Tortoise, Homopus signatus, in Captivity", Archived 2014-07-15 at the Wayback Machine. Tortuga Gazette 30 (6): 1–5. June 1994.

Sources and Credits

  1. (c) 2005 Arie van der Meijden, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?seq_num=169400&one=T
  2. (c) Marek Velechovský, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), https://www.biolib.cz/IMG/GAL/99346.jpg
  3. Adapted by calebcam from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homopus_signatus
  4. (c) calebcam, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)

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