Travancore tortoise

Travancore Tortoise
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Testudines
Family: Testudinidae
Genus: Indotestudo
Species: I. travancorica
Binomial name
Indotestudo travancorica
(Boulenger, 1907)
Synonyms[1]
  • Testudo travancorica Boulenger, 1907
  • Geochelone travancorica Auffenberg, 1964
  • Indotestudo travancorica Bour, 1980
  • Indotestudo elongata travancorica Obst, 1985
  • Geochelone elongata travancorica Gosławski & Hryniewicz, 1993
  • Indotestudo travancoica Orenstein, 2001 (ex errore)
  • Testudo travencorica Rao, 2006 (ex errore)

The Travancore tortoise (Indotestudo travancorica)[2] is a large forest tortoise growing up to 330 millimetres (13 in) in length. It primarily feeds on grasses and herbs. It also feeds on molluscs, insects, animal carcass, fungi and fruits. It occurs in hill forests at 450–850 m elevation. Males combat by ramming their shell during their breeding season between November and March. It makes a shallow nest in the ground and lay 1-5 eggs. Hatchlings are 55–60 mm in size. The tortoise is hunted and it is threatened due to forest fires, habitat destruction and fragmentation.

References

  1. Fritz Uwe; Peter Havaš (2007). "Checklist of Chelonians of the World". Vertebrate Zoology 57 (2): 284–285. ISSN 1864-5755. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-12-17. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  2. http://www.arkive.org/travancore-tortoise/indotestudo-travancorica/
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