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Bertolero, A., Znari, M., Carretero, M. A., & Harris, D. J. (2005). Testudo graeca (spur-thighed tortoise). size. Herpetological Review, 36, 315. 
Added by: Admin (22 Feb 2009 11:56:07 UTC)
Resource type: Journal Article
BibTeX citation key: Bertolero2005b
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Categories: General
Keywords: Habitat = habitat, Morphologie = morphology, Nordafrika = Northern Africa, Schildkröten = turtles + tortoises, Testudinidae, Testudo, Testudo graeca
Creators: Bertolero, Carretero, Harris, Znari
Collection: Herpetological Review
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Abstract     
Testudinidae Testudo graeca (Spur-thighed Tortoise). SIZE. The maxi- mum straight carapace lengths (SCL) of Testudo graeca previ- ously reported tor Morocco come from Admine, in the Souss Val- ley (30° 13'N, 9°31 'W; 70 elev.). In this region, females reach 226.2 mm and males 184.4 mm (Carretero et al., in press. Anim. Biol.). Although Souss Valley specimens have been assigned to the sub- species T. g. soussensis, recent studies on mtDNA (Harris et al. 2003. Rev. Esp. Herpetol. 17:5-9) and morphometries (Carretero et al., in press) do not support a distinction from the nominal sub- species found elsewhere in Morocco. During a herpetological sur- vey in several Moroccan localities, six extremely large specimens were found in Tagourast (Boulemane Province, 32°5I'N, 3°52'W; 1130 m elev.) on 14 October 2003. Two females (236.4 mm and 248.6 mm) and one male (200.3 mm) exceeded the highest SCL values reported for Souss Valley specimens (Bayley and Highfield 1996. Chel. Cons. Biol. 2:36-42; Carretero et al., in press): an- other male measured 184.1 mm. To our knowledge the largest fe- male represents the maximum size record of this species in nature for Morocco. Despite the low sample size, this population seems to be composed of adult individuals of large size (means: 181.8 mm males, 218.8 mm females, N = 3 in both cases). All tortoises were photographed and released after measuring. It is noteworthy that Admine and Tigueust are 750 km apart, occupy different cli- matic zones (littoral in Admine and continental with high thermal amplitude in Tagourast) at different altitudes and harbor different habitats (patchy open forest with irrigated cultures and dry steppe, respectively). Furthermore, the Tagourast population is the south- eastern limit of the T. graeca range in Morocco (Bons and Genie/. 1996. Amphibians and Reptiles of Morocco. AHE. Barcelona)
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