Testudo

Testudo, the Mediterranean tortoises, are a genus of tortoises found in North Africa, Western Asia, and Europe. Several species are under threat in the wild, mainly from habitat destruction.

A picture published with the record for Testudo.

Uncredited · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
TestudininiPBDB
Diet
herbivore, herbivorePBDB, for Testudinidae
Life habit
ground dwellingPBDB, for Testudinidae
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Testudinidae

Time the record covers

At least 41 million years on record.

The record covers at least 41.03 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 56 Mya to 0 Mya.

Paleocene — about 0 of 351 occurrencesEocene — about 10 of 351 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 11 of 351 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 165 of 351 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 54 of 351 occurrencesPleistocene — about 104 of 351 occurrences57–55 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences55–53 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences53–51 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences51–50 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences50–48 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences48–46 Mya — about 1 occurrence46–44 Mya — about 2 occurrences44–42 Mya — about 2 occurrences42–40 Mya — about 1 occurrence40–38 Mya — about 1 occurrence38–36 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences36–34 Mya — about 1 occurrence34–32 Mya — about 1 occurrence32–30 Mya — about 1 occurrence30–29 Mya — about 1 occurrence29–27 Mya — about 2 occurrences27–25 Mya — about 3 occurrences25–23 Mya — about 3 occurrences23–21 Mya — about 6 occurrences21–19 Mya — about 10 occurrences19–17 Mya — about 11 occurrences17–15 Mya — about 20 occurrences15–13 Mya — about 24 occurrences13–11 Mya — about 22 occurrences11–9.5 Mya — about 21 occurrences9.5–7.6 Mya — about 24 occurrences7.6–5.7 Mya — about 21 occurrences5.7–3.8 Mya — about 34 occurrences3.8–1.9 Mya — about 37 occurrences1.9–0 Mya — about 99 occurrences41.03 Mya11.7 ka57 Mya0 Mya

351 occurrences of Testudo on record, most of them in the Miocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

351 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

51 formations

Upper Freshwater Molasse — 48.15°N, 9.88°EUpper Freshwater Molasse — 48.44°N, 11.04°EUpper Freshwater Molasse — 48.09°N, 10.03°EUpper Freshwater Molasse — 47.92°N, 10.59°EUpper Freshwater Molasse — 48.63°N, 11.80°EUpper Freshwater Molasse — 48.16°N, 10.11°EKromdraai — 26.00°S, 27.75°EKromdraai — 26.00°S, 27.45°EBrackwater Molasse — 48.35°N, 9.86°EBrackwater Molasse — 48.48°N, 10.10°ESables de l'Orleanais — 48.06°N, 2.07°ESables de l'Orleanais — 47.49°N, 1.33°ESables de l'Orleanais — 48.06°N, 2.05°EShara Murum — 42.04°N, 111.53°ELumeiyi — 24.76°N, 103.33°ESidi Messaoud — 33.71°N, 7.26°WSidi Messaoud — 33.46°N, 7.72°WPinjor — 30.73°N, 76.78°Efacies à Congeria — 45.05°N, 7.93°EGoliad — 28.49°N, 97.67°WBredasdorp & Varswater — 32.98°S, 18.15°ETiim — 0.84°N, 35.82°EMakapansgat — 24.20°S, 28.95°EGoleta — 19.70°N, 101.12°WYuanmou — 24.87°N, 100.94°EBahe — 33.50°N, 109.50°ELantian — 34.20°N, 109.50°EVille — 50.90°N, 6.45°EGrund — 48.63°N, 16.06°ETomori — 24.79°N, 125.29°EBurgeschleinitz — 48.64°N, 15.81°EErgene — 41.20°N, 27.83°ECasa Poggio ai Lecci — 43.65°N, 10.67°ESespe — 34.30°N, 119.00°W

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The named rock units Testudo has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 27 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 280 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Testudo and its relatives

Miocene

Where Testudo and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

2,368 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 321 sites for Testudo, and this reads 240 of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

169 references

Each of the 351 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 157 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content3

Picture of Testudo

Credit
nobody named on the record
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
In Copyright
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Testudo hermanni hermanni · MVZ:Herp:MVZ:Herp:238087

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itTestudinini through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Linnaeus 1758