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Speckled Padloper Tortoise

Speckled Padloper Tortoise
Phylum : Chordata
Class : Sauropsida
Order : Testudines
Family : Testudinidae
Genus : Homopus
Species: signatus

Length : 4in (11cm)

IUCN Status: Near Threatened

The Speckled Padloper Tortoise is the smallest tortoise in the entire world! Found in South Africa, this tiny guy has a speckled shell whose carapace rarely grows longer than a third of a foot!

Their speckles help to keep them camouflaged in rocky areas, where they spend a great deal of their time hiding. Not much is known about their behavior in the wild, other than that females lay only one egg at a time and that the species is herbivorous.

Speckled Padloper Tortoises have several threats working against them. These include loss of habitat, introduction of highways, poaching for the pet trade, and the introduction of new predatory species. Their low birth rate has also made it difficult for this tiny species to survive through so many changes.

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Comments

  1. AxelOctober 3, 2012 at 2:21 AM

    This is so cute! i'm glad that you have all these pages. I really like them. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousMay 10, 2020 at 1:13 PM

    Where can I find where to buy them

    ReplyDelete

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