Home's hinge-back tortoise

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Home's hinge-back tortoise
In Kakum National Park, Ghana

Critically Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Testudines
Suborder: Cryptodira
Superfamily: Testudinoidea
Family: Testudinidae
Genus: Kinixys
Species:
K. homeana
Binomial name
Kinixys homeana
Bell, 1827
Synonyms[2]
  • Kinixys homeana
    Bell, 1827
  • Cinixys homeana
    — Wagler, 1830
  • Testudo (Kinyxis) homeana
    — Gray, 1831
  • Kinixys belliana homeana
    — Nutaphand, 1979

Home's hinge-back tortoise (Kinixys homeana) is a

Testudinidae. The species is endemic to Africa
.

Etymology

The specific name, homeana, is in honor of English surgeon and naturalist Everard Home.[3]

Geographic range

K. homeana is found in Benin, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Nigeria, and possibly Togo.[1][4]

Habitat

The natural habitats of Home's hinge-back tortoise are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical swamps, and plantations.[1]

Ecology and life history

Home's hinge-back tortoise is naturally attracted to red or pink flowers. It prefers low light and often moves in early morning or dusk, preferring to stay hidden the rest of the day.[citation needed]

Diet

In captivity the diet of K. homeana may include, banana, guava, watermelon, black mushrooms, cooked sweet potato, cooked potato, and cooked or raw squash, and sources of animal protein such as earthworms, mealworms, crickets, snails and fish.[5]

Conservation status

K. homeana is threatened by

habitat loss.[1]

References

  1. ^
    doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-2.RLTS.T11003A18341580.en
    . Retrieved 14 November 2021.
  2. ISSN 1864-5755
    .
  3. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5
    . (Kinixys homeana, p. 125).
  4. ^ Species Kinixys homeana at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
  5. ^ Hasenstab, Sara (2 August 2019), New at the Zoo: Home's Hinge-back Tortoises, National Zoological Park (United States), retrieved August 4, 2019

External links

Further reading

  • Bell T (1827). "On two new Genera of Land Tortoises". Transactions of the Linnean Society of London 15: 392-401 + Plates XVI-XVII. (Kinixys, new genus, p. 398; K. homeana, new species, pp. 400-401 + Plate XVII, figure 2). (in English and Latin).
  • Boulenger GA (1889). Catalogue of the Chelonians, Rhynchocephalians, and Crocodiles in the British Museum (Natural History). New Edition. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). x + 311 pp. + Plates I-VI. (Cinixys homeana, p. 143).
  • ISBN 978-2709917261
    . (in French).