Poole, Karen E.
Homopus
Sign in to saveAlso known as Cape tortoises, parrot-beaked tortoises, padlopers
Homopus is a genus of tiny tortoises in the family Testudinidae, endemic to southern Africa. Three species formerly included in Homopus were reclassified into the genus Chersobius, leaving two remaining as Homopus: the common padloper (H. areolatus) and the greater padloper (H. femoralis).
Museum specimens
- Specimen records
- 13
- With media
- 1
- Family
- Testudinidae
- Collections
- MZLU, CUMV, TM, UTA, MNHN, NHMUK
- Recorded in
- South Africa, Pays Non Identifié
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- taxon
- Parent taxon
- Testudinidae
- Image
- Beaked cape tortoise.jpg
Show 6 more facts
- taxon rank
- genus
- taxon name
- Homopus
- Commons category
- Homopus
- endemic to
- Southern Africa
- topic's main category
- Category:Homopus
- taxon common name
- Tortues du Cap
Sources (1)
via Wikidata · CC0
~2 min read
Encyclopedic overview
5 sectionsContents
- Naming
- Distribution
- Species
- Conservation and captivity
- References
Homopus is a genus of tiny tortoises in the family Testudinidae, endemic to southern Africa. Three species formerly included in Homopus were reclassified into the genus Chersobius, leaving two remaining as Homopus: the common padloper (H. areolatus) and the greater padloper (H. femoralis).
==Naming== As a group, the closely related species in Homopus and Chersobius are commonly known in Europe and Africa as padlopers (originally meaning "path-walkers" in Afrikaans), due to their habit of making tiny pathways through vegetation. In other parts of the world, such as the United States, they are known as Cape tortoises.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Homopus” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.