Spur-thighed tortoise, Common tortoise, Moorish tortoise
The Greek tortoise (Testudo graeca ), also known commonly as the spur-thighed tortoise, is a species of tortoise in the family Testudinidae. Testudo graeca is one of five species of Mediterranean tortoises (genera Testudo and Agrionemys ). The other four species are Hermann's tortoise (T. hermanni ), the Egyptian tortoise (T. kleinmanni ), the marginated tortoise (T. marginata ), and the Russian tortoise (A. horsfieldii ). The Greek tortoise is a very long-lived animal, achieving a lifespan upwards of 125 years, with some unverified reports up to 200 years.
The Greek tortoise is one of the five species of tortoise from the Mediterranean. It can be a range of colors, including black, dark yellow, gold, and brown. This tortoise is named for the patterns on its shell, which have the different colored dots and the borders of a traditional Greek mosaic. A Greek tortoise has a domed carapace, a flat head with large eyes, big scales on its legs, and strong claws.
Greek tortoises live in southern Europe, North Africa, and southwest Asia. There are many of them on the coast of the Black Sea coast in the Caucasus (from Russian Anapa to Abkhazia Sukhumi in the south), and also Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. The ones in North Africa live in semi-arid scrub, brush and grassland and areas in the Atlas Mountains, and are also found among coastal dunes, rocky, brushy hillsides, marshland borders, and pine woods. The populations in Eurasia and the Middle East live on plateaus and mountains, usually on barren hillsides, dry open steppes, and wastelands where the vegetation ranges from dry woodlands or scrub thorn to sea dune grasses.
There are many subspecies of Greek tortoises, and some of them are very different to each other. For example, those living in colder climates hibernate at the cooler times of the year, while others do not hibernate and prefer warmer areas because cold temperatures are not good for them. These animals are terrestrial and occur in areas with low humidity and dry climates. They sometimes stay in a burrow during the hotter times of the day, but otherwise are diurnal. They begin their day by basking on rocks, their legs and head extended entirely. Then they graze, retiring afterwards to the closet scrape.
Greek tortoises are herbivorous, and eat a variety of herbaceous grasses and plants across their range.
Little information is known about the mating behavior of Greek tortoises. Generally, tortoises exhibit either polygynous (one male to many females) or polyandrous (one female to many males) mating systems. Immediately after waking up from hibernation, the tortoise’s mating instinct starts up. Males will follow females and encircle them, ramming them and biting their limbs. North African Greek tortoises mate from April until May, and then again in autumn, though this varies greatly, based on locality and altitude. Nesting takes place in May and June, with the possibility of more than one clutch being produced each season. Middle Eastern and Eurasian tortoises generally nest during May or June, though sometimes from April to July. Usually there are one to seven eggs in a clutch (average three to four), though large tortoises in Algeria lay as many as 12 - 14. The eggs begin to hatch after 55to 70 days.
Greek tortoises are threatened by the illegal pet trade, and habitat degradation and loss, mostly as a result of overgrazing by livestock.
The IUCN Red List and other sources do not provide the Greek tortoise total population size. Currently this species is classified as Vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List.
