Geochelone

Geochelone; Temporal range: Miocene to present
	G. elegans
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Testudines
Suborder:	Cryptodira
Superfamily:	Testudinoidea
Family:	Testudinidae
Genus:	Geochelone; Fitzinger, 1835
Species
	G. elegans; G. platynota

Geochelone tortoises, which are also known as typical tortoises or terrestrial turtles, can be found in southern Asia. They primarily eat plants.

Geochelone is a genus of tortoises.

Species

The genus consists of two extant species:

Image	Common Name	Scientific name	Distribution
	Indian star tortoise	Geochelone elegans	India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
	Burmese star tortoise	Geochelone platynota	Myanmar

A number of tortoise species have been recently removed from the genus. This taxon as formerly defined was "polyphyletic, representing at least five independent clades".[1] Tortoises removed include members of Aldabrachelys (from the Seychelles and Madagascar), Astrochelys[2] (Madagascar), Chelonoidis (South America and the Galápagos Islands), Stigmochelys[2] and Centrochelys (Africa), and the extinct Megalochelys (southern Asia).

Fossils

† Geochelone burchardi Tenerife giant tortoise[3]
† Geochelone vulcanica Gran Canaria giant tortoise[4]
† Geochelone robusta Malta giant tortoise

"Self-righting" shell

The form of the shell of the Indian star tortoise resembles a gömböc, allowing it to turn over when lying upside down very easily.

References

Le, M.; Raxworthy, C. J.; McCord, W. P.; Mertz, L. (2006-05-05). "A molecular phylogeny of tortoises (Testudines: Testudinidae) based on mitochondrial and nuclear genes" (PDF). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 40 (2): 517–531. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2006.03.003. PMID 16678445. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-16.
Fritz, U.; Bininda-Emonds, O. R. P. (2007-07-03). "When genes meet nomenclature: Tortoise phylogeny and the shifting generic concepts of Testudo and Geochelone". Zoology. Elsevier. 110 (4): 298–307. doi:10.1016/j.zool.2007.02.003. PMID 17611092.
"The Recently Extinct Plants and Animals Database cubit: The Recently Extinct Plants and Animals Database Extinct Reptiles: Geochelone burchardi". cubits.org. Archived from the original on 2016-06-19. Retrieved 2016-06-17.
"The Recently Extinct Plants and Animals Database cubit: The Recently Extinct Plants and Animals Database Extinct Reptiles: Geochelone vulcanica". cubits.org. Archived from the original on 2016-06-24. Retrieved 2016-06-17.

Geochelone Report in Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved January 12, 2008.

External links

Chaco tortoise media from ARKive
Care tips

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[Le_et_al.-1] Le, M.; Raxworthy, C. J.; McCord, W. P.; Mertz, L. (2006-05-05). "A molecular phylogeny of tortoises (Testudines: Testudinidae) based on mitochondrial and nuclear genes" (PDF). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 40 (2): 517–531. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2006.03.003. PMID 16678445. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-16.

[Fritz-2] Fritz, U.; Bininda-Emonds, O. R. P. (2007-07-03). "When genes meet nomenclature: Tortoise phylogeny and the shifting generic concepts of Testudo and Geochelone". Zoology. Elsevier. 110 (4): 298–307. doi:10.1016/j.zool.2007.02.003. PMID 17611092.

[3] "The Recently Extinct Plants and Animals Database cubit: The Recently Extinct Plants and Animals Database Extinct Reptiles: Geochelone burchardi". cubits.org. Archived from the original on 2016-06-19. Retrieved 2016-06-17.

[4] "The Recently Extinct Plants and Animals Database cubit: The Recently Extinct Plants and Animals Database Extinct Reptiles: Geochelone vulcanica". cubits.org. Archived from the original on 2016-06-24. Retrieved 2016-06-17.