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Common Name
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Indian Star Tortoise |
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Kingdom
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Animalia |
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Phylum
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Chordata |
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Class
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Sauropsida |
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Order
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Testudines |
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Family
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Emydidae |
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Genus
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Geochelone |
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Conservation Status |
Vulnerable (IUCN),
Enangered (CITES) |
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Size
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Male
15-20 cm; Female 30-38 cm |
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Weight |
3 lbs |
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Highlights of species |
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Schoepff(1795) first
described this reptile |
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Star tortoises fall in Schedule IV of
Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972
which grants them the least level of
protection. |
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It is a close
relative of the large leopard tortoise (Geochelone
pardalis). |
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Star tortoises are
stunning in their beauty with the
radiating "star" pattern on their
carapace making them an eye-catching. |
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Microsatellite and mitochondrial loci
are used to identify the origin of these
tortoise. |
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Characteristics |
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The shape of this creature is presumed
to be specially adapted to naturally
assist it to return to a stable stance
after it has been turned over. |
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Carapace very convex, dorsal shields
often forming humps, lateral margins
nearly vertical |
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Posterior margin somewhat expanded and
strongly serrated |
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No nuchal |
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Supracaudal undivided, incurved in the
male |
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Shields strongly striated concentrically |
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First vertebral longer than broad, the
others broader than long, third at least
as broad as the corresponding costal. |
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Plastron large, truncated or openly
notched in front, deeply notched, bifid
behind |
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Suture between the humerals much longer
than that between the femorals |
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Suture between the pectorals very short |
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Axillary and inguinal rather small |
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Head moderate, forehead swollen, convex,
and covered with rather small and
irregular shields |
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Beak feebly hooked, bi- or tricuspid;
edge of jaws denticulated |
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Alveolar ridge of upper jaw strong |
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Outer-anterior face of fore limb with
numerous unequal-sized, large,
imbricate, bony, pointed tubercles. |
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Heel with large, more or less spur-like
tubercles |
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A group of large conical or subconical
tubercles on the hinder side of the
thigh. |
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Carapace black, with yellow areolae from
which yellow streaks radiate; these
streaks usually narrow and very
numerous:plastron likewise with black
and yellow radiating streaks. |
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Length of shell 5-10 inches. The males
have much slimmer, smoother shells than
that of their female counterparts. |
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The patterning although highly
contrasting is disruptive and breaks the
outline of the tortoise as it sits in
the shade of grass or vegetation. |
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The females plastron is much flatter
than that of the males which has a
concave shape. |
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The forelimbs are flattened and the hind
limbs are cylindrical and club shaped
with large scales on limbs. |
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The tail ends in a spur like scale. |
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The young have the
head and limbs ivory coloured with the
black and yellow patterns on the shell
bright and contrasting. The pattern may
become indistinct with age. |
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Habitat
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Sandy tracts and scrublands of semi-arid
areas. |
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Habit |
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They are mostly active during the
twilight. The rest of the day, they lie
under cover. |
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They are most active during the rainy
season, and can be seen even during the
day. |
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Has a higher tolerance for water than
any other tortoise in its genus, but is
sensitive to long periods of high
humidity. |
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Male Indian star tortoises are
aggressive towards one another, and
towards females in the breeding season.
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Food |
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Omnivorous but
mostly vegetarian. They feed on
succulents, cactus, fallen fruits,
grass, all types of soft vegetables,
snails, animals and bird excreta.
The foods that it eats are the drier
foods. |
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Morphology, cytochemical reactions
& ultrastructural features blood cells |
Adapted from Sailasuta et al(2006)
(1A)Erythrocyte with pale basophilic
cytoplasm and round to oval nuclei,
thrombocyte (center) is smaller than
erythrocyte and elongated nucleus with
pale-scanty purple cytoplasm,
(1B)Heterophil (center) with round
indented and pale pink cytoplasm
containing large spindle shaped
granules. Bar = 10 µm,
(2A)Erythrocytes with dense cytoplasm
and round to oval shape nuclei
(2B)Lymphocytes were round and nuclear
chromatin was condensed. Bar = 1 µm. |
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Heterophils, heterochromatin arranged
peripherally in the nuclei and
euchromatin is centrally oriented. |
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Erythrocytes shows long oval nuclei that
was rich heterochromatin. |
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Lymphocytes , the nuclei of lymphocytes
has almost equal amounts of
heterochromatin and euchromatin. |
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The cytoplasm is filled with electron
dense hemoglobin.Cytoplasm contain
numerous ribosomes, scattered
mitochondria and rough endoplasmic
reticulum (RER). Cytoplasm vacuolated
with numerous mitochrondria and profiles
of RER. Cytoplasm shows numerous
granules and some mitochrondria. The
granules round to elongate and measures
at 0.1-0.2 µm in length. Granules are
composed of homogenous matrix that
rarely contained thin, needle- like
shape which was similar to Iguana
iguana. |
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Pseudopodia usually present on the
surface of the plasma membrane. |
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Monocyte nuclei comprises of a
peripheral rim and central aggregates of
heterochromatin. |
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Reproduction/growth |
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A female becomes sexually active
when it is between ten and 15 years of
age. Males mature at three to five
years. |
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Breeding is usually during the rainy
season from mid-June to mid-October. |
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Males will attempt to turn each other
over on their backs at this time. When
it is time to nest, the female walks
around sniffing the soil, and may try to
mount other tortoises. When she finds
the proper site she will urinate on the
soil to make the ground softer so the
excavation process is easier. |
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Eggs and Hatchling |
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The female lays eggs (usually 3 to 7) in
a pit dug with her hind feet. Eggs
are matty surfaced, white
ellipsoidal and hard shelled and buries
them for incubation. |
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The female lays eggs (usually 3 to 7) in
a pit dug with her hind feet. Eggs
are matty surfaced, white
ellipsoidal and hard shelled and buries
them for incubation. |
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They grow very fast, and at six months
are around one third larger than when
the group first hatched. |
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Hatchlings have very smooth shells,
which begin to "pyramid" at around one
year. The young hatch after 70 –120
days. |
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Susceptibility |
Indian Star Tortoise is susceptible to
pathogens such as Mycoplasma and
pseudomonas |
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Threats for survival
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Loss of habitat and commercial trade for
food and as an exotic pet . |
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Predators |
Prey to birds, other reptiles, and
humans |
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Longevity |
80 years |
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References |
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Archives of
the Cold Blooded News. The Newsletter of
the Colorado Herpetological Society,
2003; 30(9).
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Boulenger G.A. Fauna of British India.
Reptilia and Batrachia, 1890.
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Daniel JC. The book of Indian Reptiles
and Ambhibians. BNHS, 2002.
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Fryre FL 1991. An Atlas of Diseases and
Treatments. 1991;1: 207-258.
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Gaur A, Reddy A, Annapoorni S,
Satyarebala B, Shivaji S.
The origin of Indian Star tortoises (Geochelone
elegans) based on nuclear and
mitochondrial DNA analysis: A story of
rescue and repatriation. Conservation
Genetics 2006: 7(2); 231-240.
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Highfield A. C. Keeping and Breeding
Tortoises in Captivity R & A Publishing
Limited 1990.
- Information Booklet.
A.P.Forest Department, Wild life
Management Division, Tirupati, 2001.
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Raskin et al. Schalm’s Veterinary
Hematology, 2000;337-345.
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Sailasuta
A, Wangnaitham S, Chansue N.
Morphology, cytochemistry and
ultrastructural characteristics of
Indian star tortoise
(Geochelone elegans)
blood cells.
Proceedings of AZWMP 2006 Chulalongkorn
Uni. Fac. of Vet. Sc., Bangkok,
Thailand, 26-29 Oct 2006.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Star_Tortoise
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http://www.iitm.ac.in/campus/prakriti.
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