Stigmochelys Explained

Stigmochelys is a genus of tortoise endemic to Africa. Stigmochelys pardalis, the leopard tortoise, is the only extant species. Leopard tortoises were once placed in the genus Geochelone along with many other large tortoises.^[1] Two fossil species are known:

• Stigmochelys brachygularis Laetoli beds, Tanzania, Pliocene carapace length NaNcm (-2,147,483,648inches).^[2]
• Stigmochelys crassa Kenya, Miocene-Pliocene carpace length >70cm (30inches)

Notes and References

1. Book: Turtle Taxonomy Working Group . Turtles of the world, 7th edition: annotated checklist of taxonomy, synonymy, distribution with maps, and conservation status . Conservation Biology of Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises: A Compilation Project of the IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group. 2014 . http://www.iucn-tftsg.org/wp-content/uploads/file/Accounts/crm_5_000_checklist_v7_2014.pdf . IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group . Chelonian Research Monographs . 5 . 7 . 329–479 . 10.3854/crm.5.000.checklist.v7.2014. 978-0965354097 .
2. Georgalis . Georgios L. . Macaluso . Loredana . Delfino . Massimo . 2021-04-02 . A Review of the Fossil Record of Afro-Arabian Turtles of the Clade Testudinoidea . Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History . 62 . 1 . 10.3374/014.062.0103 . 0079-032X.