Alternate name: Texas Tortoise

Family: Testudinidae, Tortoises view all from this family

Description 4 1/2-8 3/4" (11.4-22.2 cm). Terrestrial, with domed shell and round, stumpy elephantine hind legs. Front limbs flattened for digging and heavily scaled; all toes webless. Carapace brown, nearly as broad as long (elongated in older males); scute centers may be yellowish. Bridge well developed, usually 2 axillary scutes. Plastron yellowish; adult gular scutes project beyond carapace. Head wedge-shaped, somewhat pointed in front, yellowish; iris of eye brown surrounded by greenish-yellow ring. Front teeth slightly larger than rear feet. Male plastron concave.

Breeding Nests April to September. Lays hard-shelled, elongate eggs in chambers 2 1/2" (6 cm) deep beneath overhanging bush. Up to 7 laid each season, but not as a single site. Matures in 3-5 years.

Habitat Scrub woodlands with sandy soils; also chaparral and mesquite.

Range S. Texas into Mexico.

Discussion Unlike other gopher tortoises, it does not dig an elaborate resting place. Instead, it modifies other animal burrows or simply scrapes away at the base of a clump of vegetation to form a gently sloping ramp. Such "pallets" offer some protection from the midday sun. Its diet includes prickly-pear cactus, grasses, and the droppings of other tortoises. Many thousands of these tortoises have been collected for the pet trade over the years, but few survive more than a few months.