Herman's Tortoise
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 Testudo hermanni hermanni
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| Testudo hermanni Gmelin, 1789 |
The Hermann's Tortoise (Testudo hermanni) is one of seven tortoise species in the genus Testudo, along with the Marginated Tortoise (T. marginata) and the Greek Tortoise (T. graeca). Two subspecies are known: the Western Hermann's Tortoise (T.h. hermanni) and the Eastern Hermann's Tortoise (T.h. boettgeri).
A new work [1] describes Herman's Tortoise as the only species of the genus Eurotestudo and brings the subspecies to the level of species (Eurotestudo hermanni and Eurotestudo boettgeri). Whether this classification will stick remains to be seen.
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[edit] Characteristics
Hermanns tortoise appears very similar to the Greek tortoise, but ten specific differences are cited to differentiate them. These can be consulted in the entry on the Greek tortoise.
[edit] Testudo hermanni hermanni
The subspecies Testudo hermanni hermanni includes the variant previously called Testudo hermanni robertmertensi. It has a highly arched shell with an intensive coloration, with its yellow coloration making a strong contrast to the dark patches. The colors wash out somewhat in older animals, but the intense yellow is often maintained. The underside has two connected black bands along the central seam.
The coloration of the head ranges from olive to yellowish, with isolated dark patches. A particular characteristic is the yellow fleck on the cheek found in most specimens, although not in all; "robertmertensi" was the name for those individuals which have very prominent cheek spots. Generally, the forelegs have no black pigmentation on their undersides. The base of the claws is often lightly colored. The tail in males is larger than in females and possesses a spike. Generally the shell protecting the tail is divided. A few specimens can be found with undivided shells, similar to the Greek Tortoise.
[edit] Testudo hermanni boettgeri
These also have an arched, almost round carapace, but some are notably flatter and more oblong. The coloration ranges from brownish to yellow or olive brown with isolated black flecks. The coloring tends to wash out in older animals. The underside is almost always solid colored, and has separate black patches on either side of the central seam.
The head is brown to black, with fine scales. The forelegs similarly possess fine scales. The limbs generally have five claws, which are darkly colored at their base. The hindlegs are noticeably thicker than the forelegs, almost plump. The particularly strong tail ends in a spike, which may be very large in older male specimens. Females have noticeably smaller tailspikes, which are slightly bent toward the body.
[edit] Age
Tortoises are particularly long-lived animals, which are presumed to live as long as 45-50 years. One theory to explain the lifespans of various animals is that the efficiency in use of energy determines the length of life. The required amount of energy for humans and animals per gram of body weight is the same. If the total amount of energy is used up, disturbances begin, which lead to death by old age. Many animals are very wasteful in their use of energy, and use up their quota very rapidy, so that they die after a short life. Hermann's Tortoise, on the other hand, lives a very slow and leisurely life, and when the temperature sinks in the night or in bad weather, its activity level (and energy use) falls practically to nil. Thus they live about five times longer than a comparably-sized mammal.
[edit] Size
The eastern subspecies is much larger than the western, reaching sizes up to 28 cm (11 inches) in length. A specimen of this size may weigh 3-4 kg (6-9 lb). Testudo hermanni hermanni rarely grow larger than 18 cm (7.5 inches). Some adult specimens are as small as 7 cm (3 inches).
[edit] Range
Testudo hermanni can be found throughout southern Europe. The western subspecies (T. hermanni hermanni) is found in eastern Spain, southern France, the Baleares islands, Corsica, Sardinia, and central Italy (Tuscany). The eastern subspecies (T. hermanni boettgeri) is found in Croatia, Macedonia, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, and Greece.
[edit] Life in the wild
Early in the morning, the animals leave their nightly shelters, which are usually hollows protected by thick bushes or hedges, to bask in the sun and warm their bodies. They then roam about the Mediterranean meadows of their habitat in search of food. They determine which plants to eat by the sense of smell. (In captivity, they are known to eat dandelions, clover, crowsfoot, lettuce, as well as the leaves, flowers, and pods of almost all legumes.) In addition to leaves and flowers, the animals eat fruits as supplementary nutrition. They only eat a small amount of fruit, just enough to satisfy themselves.
Around midday, the sun becomes too hot for the tortoises, so they return to their hiding places. They have a good sense of direction to enable them to return. Experiments have shown that they also possess a good sense of time, the position of the sun, the magnetic lines of the earth, and for landmarks. In the late afternoon, they leave their shelters again and return to feeding.
[edit] In captivity
[edit] Outdoors
In order to keep Hermann's tortoise in a temperate climate, the pen must be placed in a very sunny location. The most important part of the pen is a tortoise house that they can use as a shelter. This should be a weatherproof box with an openable roof and an entryway for the animals. The floor should consist of soil as in the wild to enable burying and thermoregulation. Their life pattern in captivity is the same as in the wild. They leave the house in the early morning to warm themselves and then begin to eat. They should be provided with a wide range of edible materials. They eat for about an hour before returning to the house. In the late afternoon, they come out again for a second meal. They can be kept outdoors approximately from mid-March to the end of October. The pen should normally be constructed from natural stones.
The tortoise house must be relatively large, some 0.4 m³ (14 ft³) in size. It should made of wood and have mo floor to enable the tortoise to thermoregulate its own body temperature via burying itself. Other materials will produce a house that is too hot or too cold. There should be a heat lamp operated by thermostatic control
[edit] Indoors
Hatchlings and young specimens can be kept indoors, and although a vivarium is often offered as suitable accommodation, the humidity in such an enclosure can reach levels much higher than commonly found in the wild, leading to respiratory problems. A clamp lamp should be fastened to it so that the 60-watt reflector bulb is some 20 cm (8 in) above the level of the gravel of the enclosure. The bulb is turned on in the morning so that the animals can bask and then feed, a source of UV must also be provided, in the form of a HighUV fluorescent tube, or similar. The animals should also regularly be put into sunlight in the summer outdoors to provide them with necessary ultraviolet radiation, placing a tortoise on a window sill in winter will not provide the required level of UV, as glass will filter out UV.
The animals must be allowed to self regulate their temperature. This can be achieved by providing a temperature gradient in the enclosure, ranging from around 33 °C at the hot end to 18 °C at the cool end. The animal will then choose a position in the enclosure to reach its desired temperature
[edit] Hibernation
In nature, the animals dig their nightly shelters out and spend the relatively mild Mediterranean winters there. During this time, the heart rate and breathing rate drop notably. Domestic animals can be kept in the basement in a roomy rodent-proof box with a thick layer of dry leaves. The temperature should be around 5 degrees C As an alternative, the box can be stored in a refridgerator. For this method to be used, the fridge should be in regular day to day use, to permit air flow. During hibernation, it is vital that the ambient temperature not fall below zero. Full-grown specimens may sleep 4–5 months at a time.
[edit] References
- ^ F. de Lapparent de Broin, R. Bour, J. F. Parham, J. Perälä: Eurotestudo, a new genus for the species Testudo hermanni Gmelin, 1789 (Chelonii, Testudinidae). in: Comptes Rendus Palevol. Elsevier, Paris 5.2006,6, S.803-811. {Abstract) ISSN 1631-0683
- Tortoise & Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group (1996). Testudo hermanni. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 09 May 2006.
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