The Ploughshare Tortoise is a severely threatened species of tortoise that is native to the island of Madagascar.
There Habitat is limited to a small area of dry forests in the North-Western parts of Madagascar.
This species has a number of other common names including the Madagascar Tortoise and the Angonoka Tortoise.
Ploughshare 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 Ploughshare 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 Egyptian 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 Ploughshare Tortoise belongs to is called Astrochelys. There are only two species that are classified under this genus.
Both of them are native to Madagascar and are both considered critically endangered. The other species in this genus is called the Radiated Tortoise.
Species
The scientific name for the Ploughshare Tortoise is Astrochelys yniphora and there are currently no recognised sub-species.
This species was first described in 1885 by a French Zoologist named Léon Louis Vaillant.
Ploughshare Tortoise Description
The Ploughshare Tortoise is a relatively large species of tortoise that can grow to 2o inches in length.
They have a highly domed oval carapace or upper shell that is light brown or tan in color. The outlines of the scutes are covered in black markings.
The gular scute, which is the scute directly behind the tortoise’s head is distinctively large and curves up towards the tortoise’s neck.
This creates a projection that is shaped like a plough. This is where they get the name Ploughshare Tortoise.
Males are typically larger than females and have a longer and thicker tail. Males also have a concave plastron or lower shell while a female’s plastron is flat.
Natural Habitat and Distribution
The Ploughshare Tortoise is native to the large island of Madagascar which is located off the South-Eastern coast of Africa.
However, this species of tortoise is only found in a small area of dry forest in the North-Western part of the island known as Baly Bay.
There are a few different isolated populations in the region, all within 30km of Baly Bay. The species is critically endangered with only a few hundred remaining in the wild.
They are a terrestrial species that like to live areas such as savannahs, dry forests and bamboo scrub.
Ploughshare Tortoise Behaviour
The Ploughshare Tortoise is a diurnal species of tortoise meaning they are mainly active during the day and sleep during the night.
They are more active during the warmer wet season which takes place between November and April in Madagascar.
They will spend a large part of the morning and late afternoon in open areas of grassland foraging for food.
They are not as fossorial as other species of tortoise and will usually hide away amongst leaf litter and fallen vegetation as opposed to burrowing in the ground.