Spur-thighed Tortoise
The Spur-thighed Tortoise, one of five species, is a small to medium-sized tortoise in the family Testudinidae. It has a carapace length of up to 10 inches or larger and shows a considerable variation in colouring, flecking/spotting and shape. The colour can be cream, yellow, brown, horn or reddish. The underside usually has a less conspicuous and more irregular pattern. The head is blunt with large eyes and the arms exhibit large scales and thick, powerful claws. Males and females differ in a number of respects. Males are generally smaller, their tails are longer and taper to a point evenly and the cloacal opening is farther from the base of the tail. In addition, the underside is somewhat curved rather than flat, the rear portion of the carapace is wider than it is long and the posterior plates of the carapace often flange outward.
The Spur-thighed Tortoise is very similar to the Hermann’s Tortoise although the broader and flatter shell is rarely lumpy and it differs in having obvious spurs on the thighs and typically a single not double plate above the tail.
The division of the Spur-thighed Tortoise in to sub-species is difficult and confusing. Given the huge range over 3 continents and the various terrains, habitats and climates, there are a large number of varieties showing differences in size, weight and colour. New sub-species are regularly being discovered and currently at least 20 sub-species have been described.
The Spur-thighed Tortoise can be found in dry grassland and scrub, sand dunes and open woods and their margins and up to about 5000 feet in south and east Europe, north Africa and south and west Asia.
Immediately after waking from hibernation in spring, the male Spur-thighed Tortoise seeks out and follows females with great interest, encircling them, biting them in the limbs and ramming them in order to coax them into breeding. Once the female submits to the male’s advances, he will mount her from behind and begin copulation. A series of high-pitched squeaks are expelled from the male’s mouth as he sticks out his tongue during the mating process. Courtship and mating generally takes place in April and May with egg laying commencing in June. About 2 weeks before egg laying, the female becomes notably agitated, moving around to smell and dig in the soil, even tasting it, before choosing the ideal spot for egg laying. The female lays a single clutch or multiple clutches of eggs and digs a 4 to 7 inches flask-shaped nesting chamber with her hind legs and deposits anywhere from 3 to 6 eggs but sometimes more depending on the sub-species. She then covers the nest and leaves the eggs to hatch on their own. At between 55 and 70 days, the baby tortoises will hatch. The first babies to emerge will encourage the rest of the eggs to hatch. At hatching, most babies are no more than an inch in length.
The Spur-thighed Tortoise eats a wide variety of leafy plants and dandelion leaves are especially popular.
The Spur-thighed Tortoise is known to be one of the longest lived of the tortoises. In the wild, it does not usually live past the age of 20 or 30 years due to predation and other factors but there are reports of it living to 90 or 100 years.
Date: 25th May 2018
Location: Borislavtsi, eastern Rhodopes Mountains, Haskovo Province, Bulgaria
The Spur-thighed Tortoise is very similar to the Hermann’s Tortoise although the broader and flatter shell is rarely lumpy and it differs in having obvious spurs on the thighs and typically a single not double plate above the tail.
The division of the Spur-thighed Tortoise in to sub-species is difficult and confusing. Given the huge range over 3 continents and the various terrains, habitats and climates, there are a large number of varieties showing differences in size, weight and colour. New sub-species are regularly being discovered and currently at least 20 sub-species have been described.
The Spur-thighed Tortoise can be found in dry grassland and scrub, sand dunes and open woods and their margins and up to about 5000 feet in south and east Europe, north Africa and south and west Asia.
Immediately after waking from hibernation in spring, the male Spur-thighed Tortoise seeks out and follows females with great interest, encircling them, biting them in the limbs and ramming them in order to coax them into breeding. Once the female submits to the male’s advances, he will mount her from behind and begin copulation. A series of high-pitched squeaks are expelled from the male’s mouth as he sticks out his tongue during the mating process. Courtship and mating generally takes place in April and May with egg laying commencing in June. About 2 weeks before egg laying, the female becomes notably agitated, moving around to smell and dig in the soil, even tasting it, before choosing the ideal spot for egg laying. The female lays a single clutch or multiple clutches of eggs and digs a 4 to 7 inches flask-shaped nesting chamber with her hind legs and deposits anywhere from 3 to 6 eggs but sometimes more depending on the sub-species. She then covers the nest and leaves the eggs to hatch on their own. At between 55 and 70 days, the baby tortoises will hatch. The first babies to emerge will encourage the rest of the eggs to hatch. At hatching, most babies are no more than an inch in length.
The Spur-thighed Tortoise eats a wide variety of leafy plants and dandelion leaves are especially popular.
The Spur-thighed Tortoise is known to be one of the longest lived of the tortoises. In the wild, it does not usually live past the age of 20 or 30 years due to predation and other factors but there are reports of it living to 90 or 100 years.
Date: 25th May 2018
Location: Borislavtsi, eastern Rhodopes Mountains, Haskovo Province, Bulgaria
|
Also in: Bulgaria
 |  |  |  |  |
 |  |  |  |  |
 |  |  |  |  |