Homopus boulengeri

Homopus boulengeri
Karoo padloper
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Subphylum:	Vertebrata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Testudines
Family:	Testudinidae
Genus:	Homopus
Species:	H. boulengeri
Binomial name
Homopus boulengeri Duerden, 1906 [1]
Synonyms[2]
Homopus boulengeri Duerden, 1906 Pseudomopus boulengeri — Mertens, L. Müller & Rust, 1934 Chersobius boulengeri — Rose, 1950 Pseudhomopus boulengeri — V. FitzSimons, 1950 Homopus boulenger — Paull, 1996 (ex errore) Homopus boulengerii — M. Le, Raxworthy, McCord & Mertz, 2006 (ex errore)

Homopus boulengeri, commonly known as the Karoo padloper or Boulenger's cape tortoise, is a species of tortoise endemic to the Nama Karoo Region of South Africa.^{[3][4][5][6][7]}

Naming

Homopus boulengeri is known by several common names. In southern Africa (and in much of the scientific community) it is known as the Karoo padloper, as it is the padloper species which is endemic to the Nama Karoo.^[3][4] It is also sometimes known as Boulenger's cape tortoise, as the Donner-weer tortoise^[7][8][9] or as Boulenger's padloper.^[10]

The specific name, boulengeri, and some of the common names are in honor of Belgian-born British herpetologist George Albert Boulenger.^[11]

Description

The Karoo padloper is a small tortoise with a relatively flat, brown shell (olive to reddish or orange brown). Though almost always of a uniform colour, the vertebral shields of its shell sometimes have slightly darker edges - especially in young specimens. Its colouration makes it especially well camouflaged in its arid rocky Karoo habitat.

Like the closely related speckled padloper (Homopus signatus) and Nama padloper (Homopus solus) to the west, it has five clawed toes on its front feet and four on its hind feet. Their weight is generally 100 to 150 grams (3.5 to 5.3 oz). The average carapace length is 100 mm (3.9 in), though adult females are larger than males. Adult males can also be distinguished from females by having slightly longer tails, and a concave belly (plastron).^[12]

It looks superficially similar to the larger greater padloper (Homopus femoralis) of the grasslands in the east. However the Karoo Padloper can be distinguished by its uniform colouration, its having five toes on its front feet versus four toes on its back feet, the smaller scales on its forelimbs, and its nostrils which are level with or above its eyes.

Distribution and habitat

This small, shy tortoise occurs at relatively low densities in the succulent and desert shrubland of the central Karoo.

In its natural environment in the Great Karoo, it usually inhabits rocky outcrops and ridges of shale and ironstone. Here it hides in rock cracks and under ledges (rather than under vegetation, like many other tortoises). It has a very specialised diet (and therefore has a very poor survival rate in captivity). It is known for emerging just before thunderstorms, from which it got its local Afrikaans name of "Donnerweerskilpad" ("thunder tortoise").^[13]

Conservation and captivity

It is threatened by habitat destruction,^[8] traffic on roads, overgrazing, and poaching for the pet trade.^[14] As the trade in collected Homopus species is strictly illegal and any captive specimens are systematically registered in noncommercial studbooks in South Africa and Namibia, any commercial sale of Homopus tortoises is almost without exception strictly illegal.^[15]

The species does not survive well in captivity, unless considerable effort is made to supply specimens with their natural food, that is, the indigenous plants from the Nama Karoo Region. It also has very specific temperature, moisture and climate requirements.^[16]

References

Further reading

• Branch, Bill. 2004. Field Guide to Snakes and Other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Third Revised edition. Second impression. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 399 pp. ISBN 0-88359-042-5. (Homopus boulengeri, pp. 27–28 + Plate 6).
• Duerden JE. 1906. South African Tortoises of the Genus Homopus, with Description of a New Species. Records of the Albany [South Africa] Museum 1: 405-411. (Homopus boulengeri, new species, pp. 406–407).

External links

• Turtletimes.com

Tortoise family of turtles (Testudinidae)
Genus	Species of the tortoise family
Aldabrachelys	Aldabra giant tortoise
Astrochelys	Angonoka tortoise Radiated tortoise
Chelonoidis	Yellow-footed tortoise Chaco tortoise Galápagos tortoise Red-footed tortoise
Chersina	Angulate tortoise
Centrochelys	African spurred tortoise
Cylindraspis†	Domed Mauritius giant tortoise† Domed Rodrigues giant tortoise† Réunion giant tortoise† Saddle-backed Mauritius giant tortoise† Saddle-backed Rodrigues giant tortoise†
Geochelone	Burmese star tortoise Indian star tortoise
Gopherus	Bolson tortoise Desert tortoise Gopher tortoise Sonoran Desert tortoise Texas tortoise
Homopus	Common padloper Nama padloper Karoo padloper Greater padloper Speckled padloper
Indotestudo	Elongated tortoise Forsten's tortoise Travancore tortoise
Kinixys	Bell's hinge-back tortoise Forest hinge-back tortoise Home's hinge-back tortoise Lobatse hinge-back tortoise Natal hinge-back tortoise Speke's hinge-back tortoise
Malacochersus	Pancake tortoise
Manouria	Asian forest tortoise Impressed tortoise
Psammobates	Geometric tortoise Serrated tortoise Tent tortoise
Pyxis	Flat-backed spider tortoise Spider tortoise
Stigmochelys	Leopard tortoise
Testudo	Hermann's tortoise Kleinmann's tortoise Marginated tortoise Russian tortoise Spur-thighed tortoise
Phylogenetic arrangement based on turtles of the world 2012 update: annotated checklist. Key: †=extinct.