Egyptian tortoise
| Kleinmann's tortoise | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Specimen Kleinmann's tortoise | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Subphylum: | Vertebrata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Testudines |
| Suborder: | Cryptodira |
| Family: | Testudinidae |
| Genus: | Testudo |
| Species: | T. kleinmanni |
| Binomial name | |
|
Testudo kleinmanni Lortet, 1883 |
|
 |
|
| Range map of the Egyptian tortoise; red color indicates remaining range, and black indicates extinct range | |
| Synonyms | |
|
|
Kleinmann's tortoise (Testudo kleinmanni ), often called the Egyptian tortoise and occasionally Leith's tortoise, is a critically endangered species of neck-hiding tortoise. Once more widespread, its numbers are now dwindling. The species is nearly extinct in Egypt, and complete extinction in the wild is a looming threat unless more actions are taken to protect this species.
The specific name, kleinmanni, is in honor of Edouard Kleinmann, a French stockbroker who collected the holotype in 1875.
Kleinmann's tortoise is the smallest tortoise in the Northern Hemisphere. Female tortoises are larger than the males; males are more slender and have a longer tail.
Their shells have high domes, and range in color from ivory to pale gold to dark brown to pink or dull yellow. This colouring strongly follows Gloger's rule, as it helps to regulate the impact of sunlight. This allows the paler tortoise to stay in the desert heat for longer. It is also an effective camouflage in the desert. The bottom of the shell is light yellow, often with two dark triangles on each abdominal scute. The tortoise's scutes have dark sidings that fade with age.
The head and limbs are a very pale ivory-yellow to yellowish-brown colour.
The proposed subgenus Pseudotestudo is invalid, based on immature characters. It has been proposed to unite this species with the marginated tortoise in the genus Chersus. These clearly share a common ancestor with the spur-thighed tortoise (Greek tortoise). The former two are somewhat more similar to each other than to the Greek Tortoise regarding DNA sequence data. Considering biogeography, however, this is either due to (rather unlikely) dispersal across the Mediterranean, or the supposed "clade" is invalid and the similarity due to convergent evolution.
...
Wikipedia