The Elongated Tortoise is a species of Tortoise that is native to parts of South-East Asia in places such as India and Nepal.
This is a relatively large species of tortoise that can grow to around 12 inches or 30cm in length with females typically being wider than males.
Elongated Tortoise Taxonomy
In the Animal Kingdom, Taxonomy is used as the science and practice of classifying different species and sub-species based on their biological and genetic makeup.
Family
The Elongated Tortoise belongs to the family Testudinidae. This is simply the family of tortoises. They are closely related to Pond Turtles and Asian Turtles.
Tortoises can vary greatly in size from the Galapagos Giant Tortoise that is over 1.2 metres to tiny tortoises that are only about 3 inches in length.
Most species of tortoise have a number of similarities. However, there are always a few exceptions to these rules.
In general, tortoises have a hard shell and they retract their head and neck directly backwards into the shell to protect them.
They are land animals that swim poorly or can’t swim at all. They typically move very slowly, with average speeds of less than 0.5km per hour.
There are 17 different genera of tortoises at the time of writing and over 60 recognised species.
Elongated Tortoise Genus
The genus that the Elongated Tortoise belongs to is called Indotestudo. There are only 3 species in this genus and they range from India to Indonesia.
The three species in this genus are the Elongated Tortoise, the East Indian Tortoise and the Travancore Tortoise.
Elongated Tortoise Species
The scientific name for this species is called Indotestudo elongata. There are currently no recognised sub-species.
Indotestudo elongata was first described in 1853 by an English zoologist named Edward Blyth.
Elongated Tortoise Description
The elongated tortoise is a relatively large species of tortoise that can grow to around 12 inches or 30cm in length.
They have a relatively flat carapace or upper shell that is around twice as wide as it is deep.
The shell is typically brown or yellowish in color with black blotches in the middle of each scute.
These black blotches are often a bit washed out by the background color giving a bit of a flared appearance, although this can vary greatly from specimen to specimen.
The color of the tortoise’s skin can vary greatly and can range from a creamy yellow color to different shades of grey.
There are subtle ways to tell the difference between males and females of this species. For example, males have a concave plastron or lower shell while a female’s is flat.
Females are also usually wider than males and appear more rounded when viewed from above.
Natural Habitat and Distribution
The Elongated Tortoise is native to parts of Eastern Asia and South-East Asia.
In India, their range is limited to the extreme North and North-East of the country in regions such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
It can also be found in the regions East of Bangladesh such as Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur and Nagaland.
The Elongated Tortoise is quite common in Nepal and can also be found throughout much of Bangladesh and Myanmar.
This species can also be found throughout much of South-East Asia in countries such as Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and parts of mainland Malaysia.
These tortoises like to live in the warm, tropical forests throughout their range. While the region they live in can get quite hot, these tortoises actually prefer to avoid direct sunlight.
They are rarely seen out basking and will shelter from direct sunlight amongst the canopy of the forest, under leaf litter or in the shade of large plants.
The Elongated Tortoise thrives in a variety of different habitats and can be found in both humid rainforests to drier forests and woodlands.
They share some of their range with species such as the Sunbeam Snake and Golden Gecko.