Table of Contents
Overview
Brief Summary
Biology
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Comprehensive Description
Description
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Distribution
Geographic Range
The African spurred tortoise (Geochelone sulcata) occurs along the southern edge of the Sahara, from Senegal and Mauritania east through Mali, Niger, Chad, the Sudan, Ethiopia, along the Red Sea in Eritrea.
Biogeographic Regions: ethiopian (Native )
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Distribution: Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, Chad, Niger, Mali, S Mauritania, Senegal, Central African Republic (range generally lies along the southern perimeter of the Sahara Desert), Cameroon
Type locality: "India orientali" (in error); incorrectly listed as "Westindien" by Wermuth and Mertens 1961:224, and Wermuth and Mertens 1977:90.
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Range
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Physical Description
Morphology
Physical Description
G. sulcata is the largest of the African mainland tortoises. Only the Galapagos tortoises are larger. These tortoises have broad, oval, flattened carapaces that are brown to yellow in color. The carapace is flattened dorsally, with abruptly descending sides and a deep cervical notch. The anterior and posterior marginals are serrated, and the posterior marginals upturned. They do not have a cervical scute. The plastron is ivory colored with divided anal scutes and paired forked gulars. They have growth rings on the scutes that are strongly marked with age. Skin color is golden to yellow-brown and very, very thick. Mature males usually develop reverted marginal scales in the front. The large scales on the front legs overlap. On the rear legs, there are spurs which are not known to serve any particular purpose.
Their head is moderate in size, with a slightly hooked upper jaw and nonprotruding snout. It is brown, with the jaws being a slightly darker brown. Externally, it is hard to tell males from females. Males have slightly longer, thicker tails and a more concave plastron, but otherwise appear similar to females.
Range mass: 36 to 50 kg.
Average mass: 0.043 kg.
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Ecology
Habitat
Habitat and Ecology
- Terrestrial
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Habitat
The Sulcata tortoise lives in hot, arid environments of the Sahelian type. These areas range from desert fringes to dry savannahs. Standing water is only around for limited amounts of time. Much of it's range has been disturbed by urbanisation, domestic animal grazing, and desertification.
Terrestrial Biomes: desert or dune ; savanna or grassland
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Habitat
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Trophic Strategy
Food Habits
Geochelone sulcata is a vegetarian. It relies on succulent plants for food and much of its water. In captivity, it will eat a variety of grasses, lettuce, berseem, and morning-glory leaves.
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Life History and Behavior
Life Expectancy
Lifespan/Longevity
Average lifespan
Status: captivity: 54.3 years.
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Lifespan, longevity, and ageing
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Reproduction
Reproduction
Sulcatas breed very well in captivity. Males reach sexual maturity when their carapace is about 35 cm in diameter. Sulcatas are very aggressive toward each other, especially during breeding time. Males ram each other repeatedly and sometimes end up with bloody limbs and heads. Copulation can take place anytime from June through March. However, it occurs most frequently after a rainy season in September through November. When mating, the male first circles the female and will occasionally ram her with his shell.
After mating, the female's body will swell with eggs and she will decrease her food intake. She becomes increasingly restless as she looks for good places to make a nest. Nesting season is in the autumn. She begins by kicking loose dirt out of the way and eventually creates a depression, which she urinates in. She digs until the depression reaches approximately 0.6 m in diameter and 7-14 cm deep. This may take her up to five hours. Four or five nests may be dug before she finally selects one to lay her eggs in. Once she selects one, an egg is laid every three minutes. Her clutch size may reach 15-30 eggs, sometimes more. The eggs are white and spherical with brittle shells. After the eggs are laid, the female will fill in her nest. It may take her more than an hour to cover all the eggs up.
The eggs incubate underground for about eight months. When they hatch, the tortoises are only 4-6 cm in carapace length. They are oval-shaped and weigh less than 25 gm. They are yellow to tan with rounded, serrated carapaces.
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Molecular Biology and Genetics
Molecular Biology
Statistics of barcoding coverage: Geochelone sulcata
Public Records: 0
Species: 1
Species With Barcodes: 1
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Conservation
Conservation Status
IUCN Red List Assessment
Red List Category
Red List Criteria
Version
Year Assessed
- Needs updating
Assessor/s
Reviewer/s
Contributor/s
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Conservation Status
Many populations of G. sulcata are rapidly disappearing, especially in Mali, Chad, Niger, and Ethiopia. In Senegal there are still limited populations in the north and north-east, but there is a lot of overgrazing and desertification here too that is wiping this tortoise out.
US Federal List: no special status
CITES: appendix ii
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: vulnerable
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Status
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Threats
Threats
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Management
Conservation Actions
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Conservation
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Relevance to Humans and Ecosystems
Benefits
Economic Importance for Humans: Positive
Sulcatas are popular in the pet trade due to the fact that they can breed very well in captivity.
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Wikipedia
African spurred tortoise
The African spurred tortoise (Centrochelys sulcata), also called the African spur thigh tortoise[1] or the sulcata tortoise, is a species of tortoise which inhabits the southern edge of the Sahara desert, in northern Africa. It is the third largest species of tortoise in the world and the largest species of mainland tortoise (not found on an island).
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Taxonomy and etymology
Its generic name is a combination of two Greek words: geo (γαῖα) meaning "earth" or "land" and chelone (χελώνη) meaning "tortoise". Its specific name sulcata is from the Latin word sulcus meaning "furrow" and refers to the furrows on the tortoise's scales.
Range and habitat
The African spurred tortoise is native to the Sahara Desert and the Sahel, a transitional ecoregion of semi-arid grasslands, savannas, and thorn shrublands found in the countries of Burkina Faso, Chad, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal and Sudan[2] In these arid regions the tortoise excavates burrows in the ground to get to areas with higher moisture levels spending the hottest part of the day in these burrows.[3] This is known as aestivating. Burrows may average 30 inches in depth; some dig tunnel systems extending 10 feet or more underground.[3]
Size and lifespan
The Sulcata is the third largest species of tortoise in the world after the Galapagos tortoise, and Aldabra Giant Tortoise; and the largest of the mainland tortoises.[4] Adults are usually 24 to 36 inch long (60–90 cm) and can weigh 100-200 pounds (45 – 91 kg). They grow from hatchling size (2-3 inches) very quickly, reaching 6-10 inches (15–25 cm) within the first few years of their lives. The lifespan of an African Spurred Tortoise is about 30–50 years, though can live much longer. (The oldest in captivity is 54 years, located in the Giza Zoological Gardens, Egypt, 1986).
Diet
Sulcata tortoises are herbivores. Primarily, their diet consists of many types of grasses and plants. A small portion of their diet also consists of fruit. Their diet is high in fiber and very low in protein. The consumption of too much protein can cause their shells to take on a pyramid appearance.
As pets
Due to their reputation for having a pleasant temperament, more and more sulcata tortoises are brought home as pets. However, these animals provide significant challenges to their keepers, due to their dietary, temperature requirements, and their size.
A captive diet for G. sulcata should be organized around five important factors: high dietary fiber, low protein, low fruit or sugary foods, adequate calcium, and not overfeeding. Grasses should make up at least 75% of a captive sulcata's diet, to provide the high dietary fiber found in the wild. Young sulcatas grow very fast - they can easily double in size each year during the first three years. For proper bone and shell development, their diet must include adequate calcium. In the wild, this is provided by a high calcium content in the soil, and therefore in their diet, but in captivity calcium supplements are required.
Many "wet" vegetables can cause health problems in large quantities. Red leaf lettuce, prickly pear cactus pads, hibiscus leaves, hay from various grasses and dandelions are some of the better foods to make up the bulk of their diet. They will attempt to eat most types of plants eventually and some common garden plants can be very toxic to them, such as azaleas.
Protein is lacking in their natural diet, and should be not be fed in captivity. Lack of calcium combined with high protein does contribute to some shell malformations and causes pyramiding. Fruit should only be given in moderation. They will eat protein such as caterpillars and snails if given the opportunity, but this should be a very small portion of their diet.
The diet available to captive sulcatas can be much more nutritious than in the wild, which offers its own challenges. Sulcatas are voracious to offset the dearth of nutrients in their natural habitat; care must be taken to insure the tortoise does not overfeed. Bedding, or other plant material in their enclosures, should be restricted to grasses or grass-based hay, to ensure that the animal does not take in too much nutrition.
Sulcatas should be kept above 60F(16°C), which means many areas will require special winter accommodations. Sulcatas need a large enclosure as they get bigger and should be given a generous grazing area. Their high fiber diets (grass), their temperature requirements, and their space requirements, mean they are challenging pets.
Many people do not research these animals properly and purchase them without an understanding of the responsibility they are taking on. This is compounded by the relatively low price for a large exotic tortoise, and its long life span.
Per CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), a zero annual export quota has been established for Geochelone sulcata for specimens removed from the wild and traded for primarily commercial purposes.
Breeding
Copulation takes place right after the rainy season, during the months from September through November.[3] Males combat each other for breeding rights with the females and are vocal during copulation.[3]
Sixty days after mating, the female begins to roam looking for suitable nesting sites.[3] For five to fifteen days, four or five nests may be excavated before she selects the perfect location in which the eggs will be laid.[3]
Loose dirt is kicked out of the depression, and the female may frequently urinate into the depression.[3] Once it reaches approximately 2 feet (60 cm) in diameter and approximately 3-6 inches (7–14 cm) deep, a further depression, measuring some eight inches (20 cm) across and in depth, will be dug out towards the back of the original depression.[3] The work of digging the nest may take up to five hours; the speed with which it is dug seems to be dependent upon the relative hardness of the ground.[3] It usually takes place when the ambient air temperature is around 78 F (27 C).[3] Once the nest is dug, the female begins to lay an egg every three minutes.[3] Clutches may contain 15-30 or more eggs.[3] After the eggs are laid, the female fills in the nest, taking an hour or more to fully cover them all.[3]
References
- ^ http://www.dianeszoo.com/spurthigh.htm
- ^ Tortoise & Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group (1996). "Centrochelys sulcata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.4. International Union for Conservation of Nature. http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/163423. Retrieved 02 Feb. 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Kaplan, Melissa. (1996)African Spurred Tortoises. Reptile and Amphibian Magazine, Sept/Oct 1996, pp. 32-45
- ^ Branch, Bill (2008). Tortoises, Terrapins & Turtles of Africa. South Africa: Struik Publishers. p. 128. ISBN 1-77007-463-5.
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