Réunion giant tortoise
Live C. indica.
Conservation status
Extinct  (Around 1800) (IUCN 2.3)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Testudines
Family:	Testudinidae
Genus:	Cylindraspis
Species:	C. indica
Binomial name
Cylindraspis indica Schneider, 1783
Synonyms[1]
Testudo indica Schneider, 1783 Chersine retusa Merrem, 1820 Testudo retusa Gray, 1831 Chelonura indica Rafinesque, 1832 Testudo perraultii Duméril & Bibron, 1835 Geochelone (Cylindraspis) perraultii Fitzinger, 1835 Cylindrapis indica Agassiz, 1857 Megalochelys indica Agassiz, 1857 Chersina grayi Strauch, 1865 Geochelone graii Pritchard, 1967 Geochelone indica Pritchard, 1967 Geochelone grayi Auffenberg, 1974 Testudo indica perraultii Auffenberg, 1974 Cylindraspis borbonica Bour, 1978 Cylindraspis graii Bour, 1978 Cylindraspis indica Bour, 1978 Cylindraspis bourbonica Gerlach, 2001 (ex errore)

The Reunion giant tortoise (Cylindraspis indica) is an extinct species of tortoise in the Testudinidae family. It was endemic to Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean.^[2] This tortoise was numerous in the 17th and early 18th centuries. They were often killed for food by European sailors, and finally became extinct in the 1840s.^[3]

Distribution[edit]

This species was endemic to Reunion.

Coastal populations were completely decimated by the 18th century. The species has been presumed extinct since 1800 since the last specimen was observed in upper Cilaos.

Description[edit]

The Réunion giant tortoise was 50 to 110 cm long. It had long legs and a long neck which supported a large head with powerful jaws strongly serrated. The species was sexually dimorphic in which males were larger than females.

These giant tortoises were very slow and therefore were easy prey for the first inhabitants of the island.

A problem arises when identifying this species because it appears there were domed variants as well as saddle-backed variants.^{[citation needed]}

Gallery[edit]

• 

  Head and skull illustrated in 1737

References[edit]

• World Conservation Monitoring Centre 1996. Cylindraspis indica. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 29 July 2007.

Turtles portal

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.