Donner-weer Tortoise
Homopus boulengeri
Summary 3
Boulenger's Cape tortoise (Homopus boulengeri), also known as the Donner-weer tortoise,Karoo padloper, or Boulenger's padloper, is a tortoise of the Homopus genus, endemic to the Nama Karoo Region of South Africa and in southern Namibia.
Diagnosis 3
The Karoo padloper is a small tortoise with a relatively flat, brown shell (olive to reddish or orange brown). Though almost always of a uniform colour, the vertebral shields of its shell sometimes have slightly darker edges – especially in young specimens. Its colouration makes it especially well camouflaged in its arid rocky Karoo habitat.
Like the closely related speckled padloper (Homopus signatus) and Nama padloper (Homopus solus) to the west, it has five clawed toes on its front feet and four on its hind feet. Their weight is generally 100 to 150 grams (3.5 to 5.3 oz). The average carapace length is 100 mm (3.9 in), though adult females are larger than males. Adult males can also be distinguished from females by having slightly longer tails, and a concave belly (plastron). [1]
It looks superficially similar to the larger greater padloper (Homopus femoralis) of the grasslands in the east. However the Karoo Padloper can be distinguished by its uniform colouration, its having five toes on its front feet versus four toes on its back feet, the smaller scales on its forelimbs, and its nostrils which are level with or above its eyes. [2]
Conservation and captivity 4
It is threatened by habitat destruction [3], traffic on roads, overgrazing, and poaching for the pet trade [4].
Sources and Credits 5
- Baard, E.H.W. 1994. Cape Tortoises: Their identification and care. Cape Nature Conservation.
- Boycott, R.; Bourquin, O. 1998. The South African Tortoise Book. Johannesburg: Southern Book Publishers.
- Obst, J.; Richter, K.; Jacob, U. 1988. The Completely Illustrated Atlas of Reptiles and Amphibians for the Terrarium. T.F.H. Press.
- "Tortoises". Homopus Research Foundation. Retrieved February 20, 2017.
Sources and Credits
- Abu Shawka, no known copyright restrictions (public domain), http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Karoo_Padloper_-_RSA.jpg
- (c) Peter Slingsby, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Peter Slingsby
- Adapted by calebcam from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homopus_boulengeri
- (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homopus_boulengeri
- (c) calebcam, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
