Homopus femoralis

Greater padloper
Greater Padloper, adult female.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Testudines
Family: Testudinidae
Genus: Homopus
Species: H. femoralis
Binomial name
Homopus femoralis
Boulenger, 1888[1]
Synonyms[2]
  • Homopus femoralis Boulenger, 1888:251[1]
  • Testudo femoralis Strauch, 1890
  • Homopus fermoralis Mähn & Wilms, 2001 (ex errore)

The greater padloper (Homopus femoralis) is a small tortoise of the Homopus genus, indigenous to the highveld grasslands of South Africa.[3][4][5][6][3][7][8]

Description

1888 sketch - Zoological Society of London

As its name suggests, the Greater padloper is the largest of all the Homopus ("padloper") tortoises, but it is nonetheless tiny, averaging slightly over 10 cm in length - though males tend to be smaller. It has relatively large buttock tubercles. Like its close relative, H. areolatus (and unlike other Padlopers), it has only four toes on its front feet as well as its hind feet.

Its shell ranges in colour from olive to reddish-brown, and is slightly flattened in both sexes. The shields tend to be separated by very thin white lines. In juveniles and adult males, the shields of the shell usually have slightly darker edges. Males can also be distinguished from females by being smaller, with longer tails. Males do not exhibit plastral concavity.

This species is sometimes confused with the Karoo Padloper (H.boulengeri) which inhabits the Karoo region to the west. However Greater Padlopers can be distinguished not only by their larger size, but also by their nostrils which are below their eye level, by their having four toes on both their front and back feet, by the larger scales on their forelimbs, and by the darker rings around the shell scutes of many individuals.[9]

Distribution

Distribution map of the five Homopus tortoise species in southern Africa, showing the Greater padloper (brown)

Its habitat is primarily the summer-rainfall grasslands, savanna and bushveld of the highveld plateau of southern Africa. It is found as far north as the central Orange Free State, and as far east as the Lesotho border. It is restricted to regions of high altitude, with rainfall over 250 mm per annum.

In addition, there is a sparse relict population of greater padlopers that extends into the high escarpment on the edge of the Karoo, where the climate is relatively humid. Although it was previously known as the Karoo Cape tortoise, this species is not widespread in the Karoo, unlike the Karoo padloper (Homopus boulengeri) which is restricted to the Karoo region.[10]

Homopus femoralis is a summer-rainfall species. Within its range it tends to favour rocky outcrops, and its population is relatively sparse. It is little studied, although it appears in ITIS and other databases.[11]

Conservation

Young female Greater Padloper

The grassland species is threatened by overgrazing and poaching for the pet trade.[12] As the trade in collected Homopus species is strictly illegal and any captive specimens are systematically registered in noncommercial studbooks in South Africa and Namibia, any commercial sale of Homopus tortoises is almost without exception strictly illegal.[13]

This species does not survive for long in captivity, unless considerable effort is made to supply specimens with their natural food, that is, endemic plants from the summer-rainfall grasslands region of South Africa. This summer-rainfall tortoise also has specific temperature requirements. They spend winter under vegetation and rocks (June - September) and lay up to three eggs in summer.[14]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Homopus femoralis.
  1. 1 2 Boulenger, George A. 1888. Description of a new land-tortoise from South Africa, from a specimen living in the Society’s Gardens. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1888:251.
  2. ↑ Turtle Taxonomy Working Group [van Dijk, P.P., Iverson, J.B., Rhodin, A.G.J., Shaffer, H.B., and Bour, R.]. 2014. Turtles of the world, 7th edition: annotated checklist of taxonomy, synonymy, distribution with maps, and conservation status. In: Rhodin, A.G.J., Pritchard, P.C.H., van Dijk, P.P., Saumure, R.A., Buhlmann, K.A., Iverson, J.B., and Mittermeier, R.A. (Eds.). Conservation Biology of Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises: A Compilation Project of the IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group. Chelonian Research Monographs 5(7):000.329–479, doi:10.3854/ crm.5.000.checklist.v7.2014.
  3. ↑ IUCN Appendix 1. Regional Species Lists
  4. ↑ J. Obst, K. Richter, and U. Jacob. (1988). The Completely Illustrated Atlas of Reptiles and Amphibians for the Terrarium, T.F.H. press.
  5. ↑ The Herpetology Sourcebook, Reptile & Amphibian Magazine, 1996-1997.
  6. ↑ Homopus Research Foundation web site (accessed November 24, 2013).
  7. ↑ Save Our Tortoises, CapeNature web site.
  8. ↑ E.H.W. Baard (1994). Cape Tortoises: Their identification and care. Cape Nature Conservation.
  9. ↑ http://home.caiway.nl/~loehr/tortoises_hfem.html
  10. ↑ Boycott, R. and O. Bourquin (1988). The South African Tortoise Book. Southern Book Publishers: Johannesburg.
  11. ↑ http://home.caiway.nl/~loehr/tortoises.html
  12. ↑ http://www.capenature.org.za/resources.htm?sm[p1][category]=342&sm[p1][persistent]=1
  13. ↑ Corton, M., Homopus (Padloper Tortoise) Care, World Chelonian Trust (retrieved August 20, 2013).
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