Geochelone
see also: Etymology of Geochelone
Geochelone is a name of which indicates terrestrial tortoises. They are tortoises present in Africa, in America, Asia, and on several oceanic islands. They are mainly herbivorous. Their size is measured with the length of their carapace. The still alive largest species is that of Galapagos, then that of Seychelles.
Longevity
The tortoises generally have lifespans comparable with those of the human beings, but some of the Geochelone are known to be able to live more than 150 years. For this reason, they symbolize longevity in some cultures, for example in China. The oldest tortoise and in the past recorded, was Tu' I Malila, a Geochelone radiata of Madagascar, which was given to the royal family of the Tonga by the captain James Cook little time after its blossoming in 1777. Tu' I Malila remained near the Tongan royal family until her natural death on May 19th 1965, that is to say at 188 years. Adwaita, giant Tortue of Seychelles died on March 23rd 2006 to which some lent 250 years to its death with the Zoo of Alipore. Harriet, giant Tortoise of Galapagos, died in a zoo of the Queensland in 2006 with more than 176 years.
List species
The kind includes/understands the following alive species:- Geochelone carbonaria (Spix, 1824) - coal Tortoise with red leg.
- Geochelone chilensis (Gray, 1870) - Tortoise of Argentina.
- Geochelone denticulata (Linnaeus, 1766) - coal Tortoise with yellow legs.
- Geochelone elegans (Schoepff, 1794) - spangled Tortoise of India.
- Geochelone gigantea (Schweigger, 1812) - giant Tortoise of Seychelles.
- Geochelone will nigra (Quoy and Gaimard, 1824) - giant Tortue of Galapagos.
- Geochelone pardalis (Beautiful, 1828) - Tortoise leopard.
- Geochelone platynota (Blyth, 1863) - spangled Tortoise of Burma or Tortoise with flat back.
- Geochelone radiata (Shaw, 1802) - spangled Tortoise of Madagascar.
- Geochelone sulcata (Miller, 1779) - furrowed Tortoise.
- Geochelone will yniphora (Valiant, 1885) - Tortue with plowshare or Angonoka.
And some extinct species
- Geochelone majusculus (South America)
- Geochelone hesterna (Colombia)
- Geochelone gringorum (South America)
- Geochelone atlas (Indonesia and north of India)
The genetic studies showed that the species nearest to the Geochelone will nigra is the Geochelone chilensis of South America. The dispersion of Testudinine towards South America must be produced with the court of the Oligocène, the second that these species derive from the same disappeared giant species.
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