Negev tortoise
The Negev tortoise (Testudo werneri) is a tortoise found mainly in the Negev desert in southern Israel. It was once present in the Sinai Peninsula. In Israel it is protected by law and there are conservation programs. It is currently considered a critically endangered species.[2]
| Negev tortoise | |
|---|---|
| |
| Specimen at the Western Negev | |
| Conservation status | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Unrecognized taxon (fix): | Testudinidae |
| Genus: | Testudo |
| Species: | T. werneri
|
| Binomial name | |
| Testudo werneri Perälä, 2001[1]
| |
| |
| Black - regionally extinct Red - current distribution | |
The Negev is one of the world's smallest tortoises.[3] Unlike other tortoises it does not hibernate in winter. Instead, winter is the breeding season.[3] In 2010 the IUCN recommended that Israel take additional steps to protect the Negev tortoise including creating a wildlife preserve.[4]
There is some disagreement over whether the Negev tortoise is the same species as the Kleinmann's tortoise.[5]
References
- ↑ "Testudo kleinmanni ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
- ↑ Perälä, Jarmo (27 April 2003). "Assessment of the Threatened Status of Testudo werneri Perälä, 2001 (Testudines: Testudinidae) for the IUCN Red List". Chelonian Conservation and Biology. Chelonian Research Foundation. 5: 57. doi:10.2744/1071-8443(2006)5[57:AOTTSO]2.0.CO;2. ISSN 1071-8443. S2CID 86534354. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Negev tortoise". Jerusalem Biblical Zoo. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
- ↑ Zafrir Rinat (9 February 2010). "Negev Tortoise Gets UN Attention Amid Extinction Threat". Haaretz Daily Newspaper Ltd. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
- ↑ Shelley J. Rank; Liz Kaufman (2012). "Report on the analysis of the wild diet of Testudo werneri" (PDF). Nature conservation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 11 September 2015.