Speckled Padloper Tortoise
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| Speckled Padloper Tortoise | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Homopus signatus Schoepf, 1801 |
The Speckled padloper tortoise (Homopus signatus), is the world's smallest tortoise and probably the smallest turtle. Found in western South Africa, it grows to between 6 and 8 cm, with the male being smaller than the female. The tortoise, which feeds on small succulent plants, is so small that even birds attack it.
[edit] References
- Animal, Smithsonian Institution, 2005, pg 374
