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Radiated Tortoise — printable fact sheet
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Radiated Tortoise
Astrochelys radiata
Astrochelys radiata has one of the most striking shells of any tortoise — a high black dome with sharp yellow lines radiating from a pale centre on each scute, a pattern that looks decorative but works as disruptive camouflage in the dappled, spiky spiny forest of southern Madag…
Did you know?
- Radiated Tortoises are considered sacred in some Malagasy cultures, and harming them is taboo in certain local traditions.
- Estimates suggested the wild population fell from over 12 million in the 1990s to a few million within two decades, an almost unprecedented rate of decline for a large, long-lived reptile. Males make a grunting, clucking noise during mating that carries surprisingly far in dry forest. The radiate pattern is individually distinctive enough that researchers can identify particular tortoises from a photograph of the shell, which is now being used to trace confiscated animals.
What I learned
Draw the radiated tortoise
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