Egyptian Tortoise

The Egyptian Tortoise is a species of tortoise that is native to parts of Egypt, Libya and Israel. Unfortunately, it is critically endangered in the wild.

This tortoise has a couple of other common names such as the Leith’s tortoise and the Negev tortoise.

Egyptian Tortoise
Hatem Moushir, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Egyptian 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.

Egyptian Tortoise Family

The Egyptian Tortoise belongs to the family Testudinidae. This is simply the family of tortoises. They are closely related to Pond Turtles and Asian Turtles.

This family contains all the species of tortoises including the Radiated Tortoise and the Texas Tortoise.

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.

Genus

The genus that the Egyptian Tortoise belongs to is called Testudo which is a genus of Mediterranean tortoises that can be found in Europe, Northern Africa and Western Asia.

There are currently 5 recognised species in this genus including the Hermann’s Tortoise and the Russian Tortoise.

Over the years, there has been a huge number of species described and classified under the Testudo genus.

However, the vast majority of these entries are considered invalid. There has been a number of reasons for these invalid entries such as the re-entry of an already described species under a different name

Species

The scientific name for the Egyptian Tortoise is Testudo kleinmanni and there are currently no recognised sub-species.

The name kleinmanni was given to the tortoise in honor of a French stockbroker named Edouard Kleinmann. Edouard was responsible for collecting the first Egyptian Tortoise that was described in 1875.

Egyptian Tortoise Description

The Egyptian Tortoise is a small species of tortoise that typically only grows to around 10cm or 4-5 inches in length.

In fact, this tortoise is the smallest species of tortoise that can be found in the Northern Hemisphere. It is also one of the smallest species in the world.

The shell color of an Egyptian Tortoise can vary but it is typically a dull yellow coloration with dark brown or black markings around each scute.

They typically only have three longitudinal rows of enlarged scales on the anterior surface of their front legs.

The plastron or lower shell of the tortoise is pale yellow in color. It also contains dark chevron patterns on the abdominal scutes.

Natural Habitat and Distribution

The Egyptian Tortoise is an endangered species that has a very limited range in parts of Northern Africa.

These tortoises can only be found in a couple of isolated regions in parts of Egypt, Libya and Israel although their distribution was once much more widespread.

In Egypt and Libya, the Egyptian Tortoise can only be found in the Northern parts of the countries along the Mediterranean coast.

In Israel, there is an isolated population of these tortoises in a very small region. Here, their range may extend over the border into Jordan.

They live in a variety of different habitats from deserts and other semi-arid regions to woodlands and scrubland.