Tortoises are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines. Like other turtles, tortoises have a shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, and like other members of the suborder Cryptodira, they retract their necks and heads directly backward into the shell to protect them.
The African penguin, also known as Cape penguin or South African penguin, is a species of penguin confined to southern African waters. Like all penguins, it is flightless, with a streamlined body and wings stiffened and flattened into flippers for a marine habitat. Adults weigh an average of 2.2–3.5 kg (4.9–7.7 lb) and are 60–70 cm (24–28 in) tall. The species has distinctive pink patches of skin above the eyes and a black facial mask. The body's upper parts are black and sharply delineated from the white underparts, which are spotted and marked with a black band.
The African spurred tortoise, also called the sulcata tortoise, is an endangered species of tortoise inhabiting the southern edge of the Sahara Desert, the Sahel, in Africa. It is the largest mainland species of tortoise in Africa, and the third-largest in the world, after the Galapagos tortoise and Aldabra giant tortoise. It is the only living species in its genus, Centrochelys.
The Russian tortoise, also commonly known as the Afghan tortoise, the Central Asian tortoise, the four-clawed tortoise, the four-toed tortoise, Horsfield's tortoise, the Russian steppe tortoise, the Soviet Tortoise, and the steppe tortoise, is a threatened species of tortoise in the family Testudinidae. The species is endemic to Central Asia from the Caspian Sea south through Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan, and east across Kazakhstan to Xinjiang, China. Human activities in its native habitat contribute to its threatened status.
The leopard tortoise is a large and attractively marked tortoise found in the savannas of eastern and southern Africa, from Sudan to the southern Cape Province. It is the only extant member of the genus Stigmochelys, although in the past, it was commonly placed in Geochelone. This tortoise is a grazing species that favors semiarid, thorny to grassland habitats. In both very hot and very cold weather, it may dwell in abandoned fox, jackal, or aardvark burrows. The leopard tortoise does not dig other than to make nests in which to lay eggs. Given its propensity for grassland habitats, it grazes extensively upon mixed grasses. It also favors succulents and thistles.
Chersobius signatus is the world's smallest species of tortoise. The species is commonly known as the speckled tortoise and also known locally as the speckled padloper and internationally as the speckled Cape tortoise. A member of the genus Chersobius, it is endemic to South Africa.
The pancake tortoise is a species of flat-shelled tortoise in the family Testudinidae. The species is native to Tanzania and Kenya. There are also small populations in northern Zambia. Its common name refers to the flat shape of its shell.
The Succulent Karoo is an ecoregion defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature to include regions of desert in South Africa and Namibia, and a biodiversity hotspot. The geographic area chosen by the WWF for what they call 'Succulent Karoo' does not correspond to the actual Karoo.
The geometric tortoise is a critically endangered species of tortoise and one of three members of the genus Psammobates. It is found in a very small section in the South-Western Cape of South Africa.
Chersobius solus, commonly known as the Nama dwarf tortoise, the Nama padloper, and Berger's cape tortoise, is a species of tortoise in the family Testudinidae. The species is endemic to Namibia.
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).
Bell's hinge-back tortoise, also known commonly as Bell's eastern hinged tortoise, is a species of tortoise in the family Testudinidae. The species is native to central Africa. It has the hinge that characterizes all tortoises in the genus Kinixys. There are no recognized subspecies.
The angulate tortoise is a species of tortoise found in dry areas and coastal scrub vegetation in South Africa. This tortoise is the only known member of the genus Chersina.
Psammobates is a genus of tortoise erected by Leopold Fitzinger in 1835. This genus contains three species, all of which are indigenous to southern Africa.
The serrated tortoise German: Kalahari-Strahlenschildkröte is a species of tortoise that occurs in the Kalahari desert regions of southern Africa. Also known as the Kalahari tent tortoise, it is one of three members of the genus, Psammobates.
The tent tortoise is a species of tortoise and one of three members of the genus, Psammobates. Known locally as the Karoo tent tortoise, this highly variable species is found in South Africa and Namibia.
Homopus areolatus, commonly known as the common padloper or parrot-beaked tortoise, is a tiny species of tortoise of the genus Homopus, indigenous to the southern part of South Africa.
Homopus femoralis, commonly known as the greater padloper, is a small tortoise of the genus Homopus, indigenous to the highveld grasslands of South Africa.
Chersobius boulengeri, commonly known as the Karoo padloper or Boulenger's cape tortoise, is a species of tortoise in the family Testudinidae. The species is endemic to the Nama Karoo Region of South Africa.
Harmony Flats Nature Reserve is a 9-hectare (22-acre) piece of protected land, located between Strand and Gordon's Bay, South Africa. It protects a surviving fragment of critically endangered Lourensford Alluvium Fynbos vegetation.
