Column turtle
| Column turtle | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Malacochersus tornieri |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Malacochersus | ||||||||||||
| Lindholm , 1929 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Malacochersus tornieri | ||||||||||||
| ( Siebenrock , 1903) |
The column tortoise ( Malacochersus tornieri ) is a small tortoise native to Africa . It is the only species in the genus Malacochersus .
Appearance
The animal reaches a length of 15 to 20 centimeters. What is striking is its very flat shell for a tortoise , which is still thin and flexible even in the adult animal. It's so thin that you can even see the turtle's breathing movements.
The back armor is brown to yellowish and has clearly visible concentric growth rings. It often shows a very conspicuous, but sometimes also inconspicuous radial pattern. The belly armor is without any color markings. Because of the flat shell, the column turtle cannot retract its yellow-brown, triangular head. The legs are also yellow-brown and have sharp claws. Some scales on the front legs are particularly strong and enlarged.
distribution
The column tortoise is found in the East African countries of Tanzania and Kenya . It is an inhabitant of rocky, dry areas overgrown with thorny plants, the so-called thorn bush savannah. Here it mostly occurs in the so-called Kopjes . These are isolated rocky hills that are characteristic of this landscape area. The turtle species has an altitude distribution of up to 1800 meters above sea level. But it also occurs in lowlands that are only 50 meters above sea level.
Way of life
The column turtle feeds exclusively on plants, it mainly eats succulents . Since the shell offers no protection against predators, the turtle flees. Thanks to its flat shell, it can retreat into narrow crevices (German name) and, by inflating the lungs, anchor it so firmly that it can hardly be pulled out of its hiding place. Column tortoises are also good at climbing.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Rogner, p. 88
literature
- Manfred Rogner: Tortoises - biology, keeping, reproduction , Eugen Ulmer KG, Stuttgart 2008, ISBN 978-3-8001-5440-1
- Gerhard Müller: Turtles . Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-8001-7258-5
Web links
- Malacochersus tornieri in The Reptile Database
- Malacochersus tornieri inthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013.1. Listed by: Tortoise & Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group, 1996. Retrieved September 24, 2013.