Parrot-beaked Tortoise
Homopus areolatus
Summary 4
The beaked Cape tortoise (Homopus areolatus), also known as the parrot-beaked tortoise,common padloper,beaked Cape padloper, or parrot-beaked padloper, is a tiny species of tortoise of the Homopus genus.
Diagnosis 4
The common padloper is a small, rather flat tortoise. Its shell usually has varied colouration, ranging between olive-green and brown. The shields of the carapace are flat, with large raised areolae, and a thin black edging.
Like its larger relative, the greater padloper, and unlike the other padlopers, it has only four toes on its front feet, as well as its hind feet. The average length is 110mm, though females are larger than males. Their adult weight ranges from 140-300 g. It has a sharp, distinctly hooked beak.
The males are smaller than the females, and can be distinguished by their slightly longer tails and their distinctive heads. Males have larger heads, with a larger beak and a more pointy snout. The noses of dominant males also become bright orange or red in the breeding season.
In colour, males are frequently uniformly orange to light brown (compared to the deeper olive brown of the females). Males also have more lightly coloured bellies, though they do not exhibit the plastral concavity that many other tortoise species do.[1]
Conservation 4
The species is threatened by habitat destruction[2], traffic on roads, and increased frequency of wildfires. [3] Another threat comes from introduced species, such as domestic dogs and pigs. [4][5] They are relatively rare as pets.
Sources and Credits 5
- R. Boycott, O. Bourquin: The South African Tortoise Book. Southern Book Publishers: Johannesburg. 1988.
- Fritz Jürgen Obst; Klaus Richter; Udo Jacob (1 January 1988). The Completely Illustrated Atlas of Reptiles and Amphibians for the Terrarium. Distributed in the United States by T.F.H. Publications. ISBN 978-0-86622-958-6.
- Hofmeyr, M.D. & Baard, E.H.W. (2017). "Homopus areolatus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN. 2017: e.T170520A110342777. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
- Biodiversity.org
- Membres.multimania.fr Archived 2010-03-25 at the Wayback Machine. (Retrieved March 17, 2010).
Sources and Credits
- (c) Gawie Malan, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Gawie Malan
- (c) Abu Shawka, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/Common_Padloper_-_Homopus_areolatus_-_Cape_Town_8.jpg
- James De Carle Sowerby, no known copyright restrictions (public domain), http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Testudo_areolata_Bell_flipped.jpg
- Adapted by calebcam from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homopus_areolatus
- (c) calebcam, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
