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Padloper
''Homopus'' is a genus of tiny tortoises in the family Testudinidae, endemic to southern Africa. Three species have been moved to the genus Chersobius. Naming As a group, these closely related species are commonly known in Europe and Africa as padlopers (originally meaning "path-walkers" in Afrikaans), due to their habit of making tiny pathways through vegetation. In other parts of the world, such as the United States, they are known as Cape tortoises. Distribution The genus is indigenous and endemic to South Africa. Species The genus contains these species: Conservation and captivity They are threatened by habitat destruction, traffic on roads, overgrazing, and poaching for the pet trade. Another threat comes from introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Homopus Femoralis
''Homopus femoralis'', commonly known as the greater padloper, is a small tortoise of the genus '' Homopus'', indigenous to the highveld grasslands of South Africa.Karoo Cape tortoise species gallery. Description 
As its name suggests, the greater padloper is the largest of all the ''Homopus'' ("padloper") tortoises, but it is nonetheless tiny, averaging slightly over 10 cm in length – though males tend to be smaller. It has relatively large buttock tubercles. Like its ...
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Common Padloper
''Homopus areolatus'', commonly known as the common padloper or parrot-beaked tortoise, is a tiny species of tortoise of the genus ''Homopus'', indigenous to the southern part of South Africa. Naming ''Homopus areolatus'' is known by a wide range of common names. In its native region in southern Africa (and in much of the scientific community) it is usually known as the common padloper due to its being by far the most commonly occurring of all the ''Homopus'' ("padloper") species.Loehr, V.,Common Padloper (''Homopus areolatus''), World Chelonian Trust (retrieved August 20, 2013) It is also commonly known as the parrot-beaked tortoise, due to the relatively large beak that the males of the species possess. species galler ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Homopus
''Homopus'' is a genus of tiny tortoises in the family Testudinidae, endemic to southern Africa. Three species have been moved to the genus Chersobius. Naming As a group, these closely related species are commonly known in Europe and Africa as padlopers (originally meaning "path-walkers" in Afrikaans), due to their habit of making tiny pathways through vegetation. In other parts of the world, such as the United States, they are known as Cape tortoises. Distribution The genus is indigenous and endemic to South Africa. Species The genus contains these species: Conservation and captivity They are threatened by habitat destruction, traffic on roads, overgrazing, and poaching for the pet trade. Another threat comes from introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tortoise
Tortoises () are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin: ''tortoise''). Like other turtles, tortoises have a shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, and like other members of the suborder Cryptodira, they retract their necks and heads directly backward into the shell to protect them. Tortoises can vary in size with some species, such as the Galápagos giant tortoise, growing to more than in length, whereas others like the Speckled cape tortoise have shells that measure only long. Several lineages of tortoises have independently evolved very large body sizes in excess of 100 kg, including the Galapagos giant tortoise and the Aldabra giant tortoise. They are usually diurnal animals with tendencies to be crepuscular depending on the ambient temperatures. They are generally reclusive animals. Tortoises are the longest-living land animals in the world, although the longest-living specie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chersobius
''Chersobius'' is a genus of tiny tortoises in the family Testudinidae, endemic to southern Africa. The genus includes the smallest tortoises in the world. All three species were previously assigned to the genus '' Homopus''. Naming As a group, these closely related species are commonly known in Europe and Africa as padlopers (originally meaning "path-walkers" in Afrikaans), due to their habit of making tiny pathways through vegetation. In other parts of the world, such as the United States, they are known as Cape tortoises. Distribution The genus is indigenous and endemic to southern Africa, one within South Africa, one only in Namibia, and one possibly spanning across the border region of both countries. Species The genus contains these species: Conservation and captivity They are threatened by habitat destruction, traffic on roads, overgrazing Overgrazing occurs when plants are exposed to intensive grazing for extended periods of time, or without sufficient recovery ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Overgrazing
Overgrazing occurs when plants are exposed to intensive grazing for extended periods of time, or without sufficient recovery periods. It can be caused by either livestock in poorly managed agricultural applications, game reserves, or nature reserves. It can also be caused by immobile, travel restricted populations of native or non-native wild animals. Overgrazing reduces the usefulness, productivity, and biodiversity of the land and is one cause of desertification and erosion. Overgrazing is also seen as a cause of the spread of invasive species of non-native plants and of weeds. Degrading land, emissions from animal agriculture and reducing the biomass in a ecosystem contribute directly to climate change. Overgrazing can be reversed or prevented by removing grazers in order to give plants time to recover between grazing events. Successful planned grazing strategies have been support in the American bison of the Great Plains, or migratory Wildebeests of the Africa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taxa Named By André Marie Constant Duméril
In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and given a particular ranking, especially if and when it is accepted or becomes established. It is very common, however, for taxonomists to remain at odds over what belongs to a taxon and the criteria used for inclusion. If a taxon is given a formal scientific name, its use is then governed by one of the nomenclature codes specifying which scientific name is correct for a particular grouping. Initial attempts at classifying and ordering organisms (plants and animals) were set forth in Carl Linnaeus's system in ''Systema Naturae'', 10th edition (1758), as well as an unpublished work by Bernard and Antoine Laurent de Jussieu. The idea of a unit-based system of biological classification was first made widely available in 1805 in the in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Turtle Genera
Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked turtles), which differ in the way the head retracts. There are 360 living and recently extinct species of turtles, including land-dwelling tortoises and freshwater terrapins. They are found on most continents, some islands and, in the case of sea turtles, much of the ocean. Like other amniotes (reptiles, birds, and mammals) they breathe air and do not lay eggs underwater, although many species live in or around water. Turtle shells are made mostly of bone; the upper part is the domed carapace, while the underside is the flatter plastron or belly-plate. Its outer surface is covered in scales made of keratin, the material of hair, horns, and claws. The carapace bones develop from ribs that grow sideways and develop into broad flat plat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reptiles Of South Africa
Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, squamates (lizards and snakes) and rhynchocephalians (tuatara). As of March 2022, the Reptile Database includes about 11,700 species. In the traditional Linnaean classification system, birds are considered a separate class to reptiles. However, crocodilians are more closely related to birds than they are to other living reptiles, and so modern cladistic classification systems include birds within Reptilia, redefining the term as a clade. Other cladistic definitions abandon the term reptile altogether in favor of the clade Sauropsida, which refers to all amniotes more closely related to modern reptiles than to mammals. The study of the traditional reptile orders, historically combined with that of modern amphibians, is called herpetology. The earliest known proto-reptiles originated aro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
