The leopard tortoise (Stigmochelys pardalis) is a large tortoise of the savannas of eastern and southern Africa, ranging from South Sudan and Somalia down to South Africa and Namibia, and is named for the leopard-like blotched pattern on the yellow shell of juveniles, which fades to plain brown or grey in mature adults. It is the fourth-largest tortoise species, with typical adults reaching about 40 centimeters and 13 kilograms, and large individuals from the extremes of its range growing considerably bigger. It is a grazer, feeding on grasses and forbs and occasionally gnawing bones for calcium, and can live 80 to 100 years. The IUCN assesses it as Least Concern.
Facts
Scientific Name Conservation Status Body Size Band Activity Pattern Classification
System (Realm) Relationship to People Living or Extinct Comparison
CITES Appendix Connections
Child Taxon Of
Source Wikidata: Leopard Tortoise
In Biome
Source Wikipedia: Leopard tortoise
In the Other Atlases
Found In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Leopard tortoise
system (MediaWiki batch-API article extract states it plainly)
This tortoise is a grazing species that favors semiarid, thorny to grassland habitats.
Article text, activity pattern
Normally active during the day
lead paragraph (diet), EntityId 335859
This tortoise is a grazing species that favors semiarid, thorny to grassland habitats.
Conservation
Human activities, including agricultural burning, consumption, and especially commercial exploitation in the pet trade, are potential threats, but have not yet caused significant population declines.
Article text
The leopard tortoise has been listed in Appendix II of CITES since 1975, and in 2000, the United States banned their import because of the risk posed by heartwater, an infectious disease carried by tortoise ticks that could seriously impact the US livestock industry.
Infobox: status
LC
- In Biome: Grassland, Wikipedia intro: "s commonly placed in Geochelone. This tortoise is a grazing species that favors semiarid, thorny to grassland habitats. In both very hot and very cold weather,..."
View the Source2. GBIF Species API
3. Wikidata: Leopard Tortoise
Child Taxon Of: Testudinidae, Wikidata parent-taxon (P171) chainView the Source 4. Human Ageing Genomic Resources, University of Liverpool: AnAge entry for Stigmochelys pardalis
Human Ageing Genomic Resources, University of LiverpoolLifespan, ageing, and relevant traits
Maximum longevity 30 years (captivity)
Life history traits (averages): Adult weight
Adult weight 20,000 g
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