EMYSystem Text Only Species Page: Geochelone sulcata


home . introduction . world turtle database . conservation resources . contact us
order..........TESTUDINES (turtles, tortoises and terrapins)
family...........Testudinidae (Tortoises)
subfamily.......Testudininae ()
genus...............Geochelone (Typical Tortoises)
species..............Geochelone sulcata (African Spurred Tortoise)
Original Description
Miller 1779 : Fig. 26
Holotype
Not located; although ZSM 2753/0 has the notation 'lectotype' in the museum's species catalog; however, this number is three juveniles of Geochelone denticulata according to Crumly pers. comm.
Type Locality
"India orientali" (in error); erroneously listed as "Westindien" by Wermuth and Mertens (1961:224; 1977:90)
Original name
Testudo sulcata
Common Name
African Spurred Tortoise
Distribution
Central Africa from Mauritania and Senegal to Ethiopia
Comments
Subgenus Centrochelys according to Bour (1984c). Reviewed by Loveridge and Williams (1957), and Broadley (in Swingland and Klemens, 1989). Hirth and Latif (1981) reported on morphometrics of a Sudan population.
Note - informational or help links appear in red.
Additional Resources . . images . . maps . . resources . . . help
Copyright © 2000 The Terra Cognita Laboratory