Stigmochelys

Leopard tortoise
On the S90 Road north of Satara, Kruger National Park, South Africa
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordate
Class:	Sauropsida
Order:	Testudines
Suborder:	Cryptodira
Family:	Testudinidae
Genus:	Stigmochelys Gray, 1873
Species:	S. pardalis
Binomial name
Stigmochelys pardalis (Bell, 1828)
Synonyms
Synonyms  Testudo pardalis Bell, 1828 Testudo biguttata Cuvier, 1829 (nomen nudum) Testudo armata Boie, 1831 (nomen nudum) Testudo bipunctata Gray, 1831 Geochelone (GeochelonekoonFitzinger, 1835 Megachersine pardalis Hewitt, 1933 Testudo pardalis pardalis Loveridge, 1935 Geochelone pardalis pardalis Loveridge & Williams, 1957 Stigmochelys pardalis Gerlach, 2001 Centrochelys pardalis pardalis Vetter, 2002 Stigmochelys pardalis pardalis Bour, 2002 Psammobates pardalis Le, Raxworthy, McCord & Mertz, 2006 Testudo pardalis babcocki Loveridge, 1935 Geochelone pardalis babcocki Loveridge & Williams, 1957 Geochelone babcocki Pritchard, 1967 Geochelone paradalis babcocki Dadd, 1974 Geochelone pardalis baboocki Młynarski, 1976 (ex errore) Centrochelys pardalis babcocki Vetter, 2002 Stigmochelys pardalis babcocki Bour, 2002 Geochelone pardalis babcockii Le, Raxworthy, McCord & Mertz, 2006 (ex errore)

The leopard tortoise (Stigmochelys pardalis) is a large and attractively marked tortoise found in the savannas of eastern and southern Africa, from Sudan to the southern Cape. It is the only member of the genus Stigmochelys, although in the past it was commonly placed in Geochelone. This tortoise is a grazing species that favors semi-arid, thorny to grassland habitats. In both very hot and very cold weather they may dwell in abandoned fox, jackal, or aardvark holes. Leopard tortoises do not dig other than to make nests in which to lay eggs. Not surprisingly, given its propensity for grassland habitats, it grazes extensively upon mixed grasses. It also favors succulents and thistles.

The phylogenic placement of the leopard tortoise has been subject to several revisions. Different authors have placed it in Geochelone (1957), Stigmochelys (2001), Centrochelys (2002), and Psammobates (2006). More recently, consensus appears to have settled on Stigmochelys, a monotypic genus. There has been considerable debate about the existence of two subspecies but recent work does not support this distinction.

"Stigmochelys" is a combination of Greek words: stigma meaning "mark" or "point"* and chelone meaning "tortoise". The specific name pardalis is from the Latin word pardus meaning "leopard" and refers to the leopard-like spots on the tortoise's shell.

The leopard tortoise is the fourth largest species of tortoise in the world, with typical adults reaching 40 centimetres (16 in) and weighing 13 kilograms (29 lb). Adults tend to be larger in the northern and southern ends of their range, where typical specimens weigh up to 20 kilograms (44 lb) and an exceptionally large tortoise may reach 70 centimetres (28 in) and weigh 40 kilograms (88 lb).

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Wikipedia