Flat-backed tortoise
| Flat-backed tortoise | ||||||||||||
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Flat-backed tortoise ( Pyxis planicauda ) |
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| Pyxis planicauda | ||||||||||||
| ( Grandidier , 1867) |
The flat- backed tortoise ( Pyxis planicauda ) ( Malagasy : kapidolo ) is a small tortoise (Testudinidae) from Madagascar .
distribution
The turtle is endemic to Madagascar and has so far only been found on the west coast in the dry forest , north of Morondava between Analaiva in the south and Masoarive in the north. Characteristic for their habitat are high temperatures during the day and strong cooling during the night.
features
The flat-backed tortoise becomes 17.5 centimeters long. It has a relatively flat, elongated shell for tortoises with a brown-orange, yellow and black pattern and is a good camouflage in the leaf-covered forest floor. The turtle's tail is also flattened.
Way of life
Little is known about the way of life of the flat-backed turtle. The animals are only active during the rainy season from December to May. During the dry season, the turtles rest and hide in the foliage. Flat-backed tortoises feed on fruits, seedlings, and leaves. Animals kept in human care liked to eat mushrooms and built three nesting pits each year, in each of which they lay a single, relatively large egg. It weighs between 10.5 and 17.5 grams.
Danger
The population of the flat-backed tortoise is estimated at only a few thousand specimens. It is threatened by being caught for the purpose of keeping it in a terrarium . There is an import ban on the flat-backed tortoise in the EU .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Rogner, p. 89.
literature
- Manfred Rogner: Tortoises - biology, keeping, reproduction. Eugen Ulmer KG, Stuttgart 2008, ISBN 978-3-8001-5440-1 .
- M. Pedrono, LL Smith: Testudinae, Land Tortoises. In: Steven M. Goodman, Jonathan P. Benstead, Harald Schütz: The Natural History of Madagascar. University of Chicago Press, Chicago 2003, ISBN 0-226-30307-1 .
Web links
- Pyxis planicauda in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2006. Posted by: Tortoise & Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group, 1996. Retrieved on June 11 of 2007.
- Pyxis planicauda in The Reptile Database