Forsten's tortoise
Conservation status
Endangered (IUCN 2.3)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Subphylum:	Vertebrata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Testudines
Family:	Testudinidae
Genus:	Indotestudo
Species:	I. forstenii
Binomial name
Indotestudo forstenii (Schlegel & Müller, 1845)
Synonyms[1]
Testudo forstenii Schlegel & Müller, 1845 Peltastes forstenii — Gray, 1872 Testudo forsteni E. Williams, 1952 (ex errore) Geochelone forsteni — Pritchard, 1967 Geochelone forstenii — Honegger, 1980 Indotestudo forstenii — Bour, 1980 Indotestudo forsteni — Groombridge, 1982 Indotestudo elongata forsteni — Obst, 1985 Geochelone elongata forsteni — Gosławski & Hryniewicz, 1993 Indotestudo foresternii Choudhury & Bhupathy, 1993 (ex errore)

Forsten's tortoise (Indotestudo forstenii ) is an endangered species of tortoise found on Sulawesi, Indonesia.

Taxonomy[edit]

Indotestudo travancorica, found in the Western Ghats of India, has been previously considered a synonym of Indotestudo forstenii, but is now treated as a separate species.

Etymology[edit]

The specific name, forstenii, is in honor of Dutch botanist Eltio Alegondas Forsten.^[2]

Gallery[edit]

• 

  Baby Forsten's Tortoise

See also[edit]

• Sulawesi forest turtle (Leucocephalon yuwonoi) – another threatened turtle endemic to Sulawesi, Indonesia.

References[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• Asian Turtle Trade Working Group (2000). Indotestudo forstenii. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is endangered.
• Boulenger GA. 1907. A new tortoise from Travancore. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 17: 560-564.
• Iverson, John B.; Spinks, Phillip Q.; Shaffer, H. Bradley; McCord, William P.; Das, Indraneil. 2001. Phylogenetic relationships among the Asian tortoises of the genus Indotestudo (Reptilia: Testudines: Testudinidae). Hamadryad 26 (2): 271-274.
• Pritchard, Peter CH. 2000. Indotestudo travancorica. A Valid Species of Tortoise? Reptile & Amphibian Hobbyist 5 (2): 18-28.
• Radhakrishnan, C. 1998. Additional record of the travancore tortoise, Indotestudo forstenii (Schlegel & Muller) (Testudinita: Reptilia) in Kerala. Cobra 34 (Oct.-Dec.): 19-20.

External links[edit]

• Indotestudo forstenii at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database
• http://itgmv1.fzk.de/www/itg/uetz/herp/photos/Indotestudo_forsteni1.jpg
• http://studbooks.org

Tortoise family of turtles (Testudinidae) Genus Species of the tortoise family Aldabrachelys Aldabra giant tortoise Astrochelys Angonoka tortoise Radiated tortoise Chelonoidis Yellow-footed tortoise Chaco tortoise Galápagos tortoise Red-footed tortoise Chersina Angulate tortoise Centrochelys African spurred tortoise Cylindraspis† Domed Mauritius giant tortoise† Domed Rodrigues giant tortoise† Réunion giant tortoise† Saddle-backed Mauritius giant tortoise† Saddle-backed Rodrigues giant tortoise† Geochelone Burmese star tortoise Indian star tortoise Gopherus Bolson tortoise Desert tortoise Gopher tortoise Sonoran Desert tortoise Texas tortoise Homopus Common padloper Nama padloper Karoo padloper Greater padloper Speckled padloper Indotestudo Elongated tortoise Forsten's tortoise Travancore tortoise Kinixys Bell's hinge-back tortoise Forest hinge-back tortoise Home's hinge-back tortoise Lobatse hinge-back tortoise Natal hinge-back tortoise Speke's hinge-back tortoise Malacochersus Pancake tortoise Manouria Asian forest tortoise Impressed tortoise Psammobates Geometric tortoise Serrated tortoise Tent tortoise Pyxis Flat-backed spider tortoise Spider tortoise Stigmochelys Leopard tortoise Testudo Hermann's tortoise Kleinmann's tortoise Marginated tortoise Russian tortoise Spur-thighed tortoise Phylogenetic arrangement based on turtles of the world 2012 update: annotated checklist. Key: †=extinct.