Pancake tortoise
| Pancake tortoise | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Testudines |
| Family: | Testudinidae |
| Genus: |
Malacochersus Lindholm, 1929 |
| Species: | M. tornieri |
| Binomial name | |
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Malacochersus tornieri (Siebenrock, 1903) |
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| Synonyms | |
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The pancake tortoise (Malacochersus tornieri) is a flat-shelled tortoise native to Tanzania and Kenya. Its name is derived from the flat shape of its shell. It is the only member of the genus Malacochersus.
The pancake tortoise has an unusually thin, flat, flexible shell, which is up to 17.8 centimetres (7.0 in) long. While the shell bones of most other tortoises are solid, the pancake tortoise has shell bones with many openings, making it lighter and more agile than other tortoises. The carapace (top shell) is brown, frequently with a variable pattern of radiating dark lines on each scute (shell plate), helping to camouflage the tortoise in its natural dry habitat. The plastron (bottom shell) is pale yellow with dark brown seams and light yellow rays, and the head, limbs and tail are yellow-brown. Its bizarre, flattened, pancake-like profile makes this tortoise a sought-after animal in zoological and private collections, leading to its over-exploitation in the wild.
This East African species is native to southern Kenya and northern and eastern Tanzania, and an introduced population may also occur in Zimbabwe. The species has also been reported in Zambia. It is found on hillsides with rocky outcrops (known as kopjes) in arid thorn scrub and savanna, from 100 to 6,000 feet (30 to 1800 metres) above sea level. The species inhabits the Somalia-Masai floristic region, an arid semi-desert characterized by Acacia-Commiphora bushland and Brachystegia woodland in upland localities. It occurs in dry savannah of low altitude at small rocky hills of the crystalline basement.
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Wikipedia