Speckled padloper tortoise

Speckled padloper tortoise
Homopus signatus copulating
Conservation status
Near Threatened (IUCN 2.3)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Sauropsida
Order:	Testudines
Suborder:	Cryptodira
Superfamily:	Testudinoidea
Family:	Testudinidae
Genus:	Homopus
Species:	H. signatus
Binomial name
Homopus signatus Schoepff, 1801

The speckled padloper or speckled Cape tortoise (Homopus signatus) is the world’s smallest tortoise. It is endemic to South Africa.

Homopus signatus is naturally restricted to a small area in Little Namaqualand, an arid region in the west of South Africa. Here it lives on granite outcrops, where it forages among the rocks for the tiny succulent plants it eats.

The males measure 6–8 centimetres (2.4–3.1 in), while females measure up to almost 10 centimetres (3.9 in); they weigh about 95–165 grams (3.4–5.8 oz). This species has a flattened shell with slightly serrated edges. The orange-brown shell is covered in hundreds of black spots. The males have a noticeably concave belly.
This tiny tortoise can be distinguished from the other padlopers by its speckles, and by five toes on its forefeet (unlike many of its relatives, which have four toes, on all four feet).

There are two main subspecies:

• The Namaqualand speckled padloper (Homopus signatus signatus) in the north, near the Namibian border.
• The southern speckled padloper (Homopus signatus cafer, previously H. s. peersi) in the south, closer to Cape Town.

They are threatened by traffic on roads, overgrazing and poaching for the pet trade (Homopus species do not generally survive well in captivity). Another threat comes from introduced species, such as domestic dogs and pigs.

References

• Animal, Smithsonian Institution, 2005, pg 374