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 
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Testudines |
| Family: | Testudinidae |
| Genus: | Testudo |
| Species: | T. werneri
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| Binomial name | |
| Testudo werneri Perälä, 2001[1]
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| 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]
Negev Tortoise Media
Belly of the Egyptian tortoise
Characteristic specimens of the Egyptian tortoise (left) and Negev tortoise (right), dorsal view
Ventral view: Differences are slight and unreliable (see above)
Intercepted shipment of Kleinmann's tortoise from Libya for the illegal pet market, port of Genoa, 2005.
T. kleinmanni now in Bioparco: Smuggling conditions are typically worse.
T. kleinmanni from Libya.
Kleinmann's tortoise, carapace fractured during smuggling.
References
- ↑ "Testudo kleinmanni ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
- ↑ Perälä, Jarmo. Assessment of the Threatened Status of Testudo werneri Perälä, 2001 (Testudines: Testudinidae) for the IUCN Red List. Chelonian Conservation and Biology 5 (27 April 2003)Chelonian Research Foundation. p. 57. doi:[57:AOTTSO2.0.CO;2 10.2744/1071-8443(2006)5[57:AOTTSO]2.0.CO;2]. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Negev tortoiseJerusalem Biblical Zoo. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
- ↑ Zafrir Rinat. Negev Tortoise Gets UN Attention Amid Extinction Threat (9 February 2010)Haaretz Daily Newspaper Ltd.. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
- ↑ Shelley J. Rank. Report on the analysis of the wild diet of Testudo werneri' (2012)Nature conservation. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
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