Summary ⁵

The pancake tortoise (Malacochersus tornieri) is a flat-shelled tortoise native to Tanzania and Kenya. Its name is derived from the flat shape of its shell. It is the only member of the genus Malacochersus.

Description ⁶

With its unusually thin, flat, flexible shell, and habit of fleeing rather than withdrawing into its shell, the pancake tortoise is amongst the oddest of all chelonians (4). While the shell bones of most other tortoises are solid, the pancake tortoise has shell bones with many openings, making it lighter and more agile than other tortoises (5). Since this tortoise could easily be torn apart by predators, it must rely on its speed and flexibility to escape from dangerous situations (6). The flexibility of its shell allows the pancake tortoise to crawl into narrow rock crevices to avoid potential predators (2), thus exploiting an environment that no other tortoise is capable of using (7). The carapace is brown, frequently with a variable pattern of radiating dark lines on each scute, helping to camouflage the tortoise in its natural dry habitat (2) (5) (6). The plastron is pale yellow with dark brown seams and light yellow rays (6), and the head, limbs and tail are yellow-brown (2). Sadly, its bizarre, flattened, pancake-like profile makes this tortoise a sought after animal in zoological and private collections, leading to its over-exploitation in the wild (7).

Distribution ⁷

Continent: Africa
Distribution: Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia (Chansa & Wagner 2006)  
Type locality: "bei Bussia [=Busisi] am Victoria Nyanza. . .," Tanzania.

Iucn red list assessment ⁸

• Needs updating

Assessor/s

• 1994
  Insufficiently Known
  (Groombridge 1994)
• 1990
  Insufficiently Known
  (IUCN 1990)
• 1988
  Insufficiently Known
  (IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre 1988)
• 1986
  Insufficiently Known
  (IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre 1986)

Fuentes y créditos

1. (c) Nevit Dilmen, algunos derechos reservados (CC BY-SA), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/London_Zoo_00995.jpg
2. (c) Nevit Dilmen, algunos derechos reservados (CC BY-SA), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/London_Zoo_00996.jpg
3. Dave Pape, sin restricciones conocidas de derechos (dominio publico), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c7/Malacochersus_tornieri_-_Buffalo_Zoo.jpg
4. (c) Ltshears, algunos derechos reservados (CC BY-SA), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/22/PancakeTortoise_MalacochersusTornieri56.jpg
5. (c) Wikipedia, algunos derechos reservados (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malacochersus_tornieri
6. (c) Wildscreen, algunos derechos reservados (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/6692145
7. (c) Peter Uetz, algunos derechos reservados (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/14310377
8. (c) International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, algunos derechos reservados (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/28195790

Más información

• NaturaLista página del taxón
• Animal Diversity Web
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• HerpMapper
• The Reptile Database
• VertNet

Range Map

(c) Discover Life and original sources, algunos derechos reservados (CC-BY-NC-SA)

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