Texas Tortoise

Taxobox
name = Texas Tortoise
status = LR/lc | status_system = IUCN2.3

---

regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Sauropsida
ordo = Testudines
subordo = Cryptodira
superfamilia = Testudinoidea
familia = Testudinidae
genus = "Gopherus"
species = "G. berlandieri"
binomial = "Gopherus berlandieri"
binomial_authority = Agassiz, 1857
synonyms = "Xerobates berlandieri"
Agassiz, 1857
"Testudo berlandieri"
Boulenger, 1889
"Gopherus polyphemus berlandieri"
Mertens & Wermuth, 1955

The Texas Tortoise ("Gopherus berlandieri"), is one of four species of tortoise that are native to North America. Its range extends from southern Texas southward into the Mexican states of Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas. The epithet "berlandieri" is in honor of the Belgian naturalist Jean Louis Berlandier, who worked for the Mexican government on one of the first biological surveys of Texas. ^{[http://ebeltz.net/herps/biogappx.html]} As such, some sources refer to it as Berlandier's Tortoise.

Behavior

The Texas Tortoise, unlike other species of gopher tortoise, are not adept burrowers. Its preferred habitat is dry scrub and grasslands. Succulent plants, a preferred food of the Texas tortoise, are common in these areas. They especially like the fruit of cacti such as the prickly pear.

Conservation status

Though considered an animal of low concern by the IUCN Red List, the Texas Tortoise is listed as a threatened species in the state of Texas, and thus protected by state law. They are one in a kind and they should not be harmed.

References

*IUCN2006|assessors=Tortoise & Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group|year=1996|id=9401|title=Gopherus berlandieri|downloaded=12 May 2006
*EMBL species|genus=Gopherus|species=berlandieri

External links

* [http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/species/txtort/ Texas Tortoise]
* [http://www.turtlesarchive.com/care-sheets/texas-tortoise.php Texas Tortoise care sheet]