Geochelone elegans (Schoepff, 1795) - Indian Star Tortoise

Subspecies in India

This species is listed as Vulnerable in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (https://www.iucnredlist.org/).

 

Taxonomic Information

 

Conservation and Special status

 

Photo Gallery and Species Biology

Geochelone elegans - Indian Star Tortoise


Type Locality: India Oriental
Common, known to be distributed in two different taxonomically recognizable disjunct areas in India, such as north-western India (Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh) and eastern & southern India (Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Odisha) (Choudhury et al., 2020).

Conservation Status:

 

This species is listed as Vulnerable in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (https://www.iucnredlist.org/).


This species is habitat generalized species, can be found in scrublands, grasslands, desert edges, agricultural fields, hedgerows and plantations (Choudhury et al., 2020). Illegal collection by local and international trading, habitat destruction and alteration are identified as major threats for the species and its habitats. This is suspected that the species is evidenced >30% of the reductions in its populations (Choudhury et al., 2020).

 

StateJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecNo date
Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Andhra Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh
Assam
Bihar
Chandigarh
Chhattisgarh
Dadra & Nagar Haveli
Daman & Diu
Delhi
Goa
Gujarat
Haryana
Himachal Pradesh
Jammu and Kashmir
Jharkhand
Karnataka
Kerala1
Lakshadweep
Madhya Pradesh
Maharashtra
Manipur
Meghalaya
Mizoram
Nagaland
Odisha
Paschimbanga
Pondicherry
Punjab
Rajasthan1
Sikkim
Tamil Nadu11
Tripura
Uttar Pradesh
Uttarakhand
West Bengal
Total1111

Other Notes

 

Page citation

Anonymous 2024. Geochelone elegans (Schoepff, 1795) – Indian Star Tortoise. In Kamdar, A. and K. Kunte. (Chief Editors). Butterflies of India, v. v.1.26. Published by the Indian Foundation for Butterflies. URL: https://www.indianreptiles.org/geochelone-elegans, accessed 2024/10/10.