The Texas Tortoise is a species of tortoise that can be found in parts of Southern Texas and Northern Mexico.
Thile they are a good size, this species is the smallest of the North American Tortoises, with a shell length of around 8 inches or 20cm.
This species has a number of other ‘common’ names including the Berlandier’s Tortoise and it is known as Galápago tamaulipeco in Mexico.
Texas 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 Texas 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 Radiated 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 Texas Tortoise belongs to is called Gopherus. This is a genus of tortoise that are referred to as the Gopher Tortoises.
They are known as the Gopher Tortoises because they are fossorial. This means that they spend most of their life underground in burrows.
Some of the species in this genus dig burrows so large that they are often shared by other animals such as mammals, reptiles and birds.
There are currently 6 recognised species in this genus including the Mojave Desert Tortoise and the Gopher Tortoise.
Texas Tortoise Species
The scientific name for the Texas Tortoise is Gopherus berlandieri. There are currently no recognised sub-species.
It was forst described in 1857 by a Swiss-American biologist named Louis Agassiz.
It was originally places in a genus called Xerobates along with a few other tortoises. However, it was soon moved and this genus is no longer recognised.
It was given the name ‘berlandieri’ in honour of a French-Mexican naturalist named Jean-Louis Berlandier.
Because of this, the Texas Tortoise is sometimes referred to as the Berlandier’s Tortoise.
Texas Tortoise Description
The Texas Tortoise is the smallest species of Tortoise that is native to North America. However, it is still a decent size and can obtain a shell length of over 8 inches.
The carapace or upper shell of the tortoise is usually dark brown in color. They have yellowish orange blotches in the centre of each scute.
The scales of the tortoise are typically dark brown in color also but can appear lighter. They often have yellow or cream coloration around the edges of these scales.
Their hind legs are cylindrical and columnar which is somewhat similar to the legs of an elephant.
Natural Habitat and Distribution
The Texas Tortoise is native to parts of Southern Texas and Northern Mexico where it can be found in a variety of different habitats.
In Texas, it can be found from Austin Southwards through San Antonia where it then spreads as far as the Gulf Coast of Texas across to the South-Western border.
It can be found in regions such as Southern Central Texas, South Texas and the Gulf Coast region.
In Mexico, the Texas Tortoise can be found in places such as Coahuila, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas.
They like to live in a range of habitats including semi-desert areas, scrub forests and open woodlands. They can even be found in more humid sub-tropical areas.
They prefer to live in habitats where the soil is well drained and sandy.
Texas Tortoise Behaviour
The Texas Tortoise is a diurnal species meaning it is mainly active during the hours of daylight and sleeps at night.
However, during times of extreme heat they are often active in the early morning and again in the evening when the temperature cools back down a bit.
While most of the species in the Gopherus genus are renowned for digging burrows, the Texas Tortoise is an exception to this.
These tortoises typically don’t dig large burrows. Instead, they simply just push away the sand or soft soil below them to make a shallow resting place known as a pallet.
Texas Tortoise Diet
This species is omnivorous, meaning its diet consists of a combination of plant-based matter and meat.
The bulk of their diet comes from plants and they will eat things like grasses, flowers, fruits and the stems of prickly pears. They will also eat the occasional insect, snail or other sources of protein.