There are no known adverse effects of Hermann's tortoises on humans.
Adult Hermann's tortoises have very few natural predators because of their ability to tuck into their shell to avoid predation. However, young Hermann's tortoises are at risk of predation by a number of species, including rats, birds (particularly magpies), snakes, wild boar, foxes, badgers, and hedgehogs. As a tortoise matures and its shell hardens, the risk of predation decreases.
Known Predators:
Anti-predator Adaptations: cryptic
Hermann's tortoises range in size from 120 to 230 mm total length and weigh 2 to 2.5 kg. Females tend to be larger than males and reach sexual maturity at a younger age. Hermann's tortoises are unique due to their divided supracaudal scute, which is a scale-like plate located on the tail end of their shell. Another unique feature of Hermann's tortoises is a horny scale located on the tail. The coloration of the shell varies - the western subspecies is very colorful, while the eastern subspecies is relatively dull. Both subspecies have distinct dark bands under the shell. These tortoises can have 4 or 5 front claws/digits, which is apparently strongly influenced by the genetic characteristics of the mother. Females with 4 claws on their front limbs are 4 times as likely to have offspring with the same number of claws. Sex can be identified in juveniles by the combination of a number of subtle differences in the shapes of the tail, carapace, plastron and anal scutes. It takes at least 4 years (ir sometimes up to 10) before carapace differences are obvious, as the carapace length must be 10 cm or more to be useful in sex determination.
Range mass: 2 to 2.5 kg.
Range length: 120 to 230 mm.
Other Physical Features: ectothermic ; heterothermic ; bilateral symmetry
Sexual Dimorphism: female larger; sexes shaped differently
The maximum lifespan of this species in either the wild or in captivity is not currently known. However, other species in the genus Testudo have been documented to live over 120 years in the wild.
Hermann's tortoises prefer inland and coastal forest habitats. Females build their nests in the forests, which keeps the eggs isolated from predators. Due to habitat destruction within their range, they are also found in habitats such as dry, hilly grasslands or farmland. Despite being suboptimal, these habitats still allow for the tortoises to actively forage in ground vegetation.
Habitat Regions: temperate ; terrestrial
Terrestrial Biomes: savanna or grassland ; scrub forest
Other Habitat Features: suburban ; agricultural
Hermann’s tortoises, are found along the northern coast of the Mediterranean Sea in western Europe, ranging from Romania and Greece to southern Spain. Up to a quarter of the total population is estimated to reside in the Italian peninsula.
Biogeographic Regions: palearctic (Native )
Hermann's tortoises eat ground vegetation such as grasses, leaves and flowers. When vegetation is scarce, they may also eat small insects, snails, or slugs.
Animal Foods: insects; mollusks
Plant Foods: leaves; flowers
Primary Diet: herbivore (Folivore )
Hermann's tortoises prey on small mollusks and insects, and newly hatched young are preyed on by a number of different species. However, adult Hermann's tortoises are prey to very few natural predators. These tortoises are known to host nematode parasites.
Commensal/Parasitic Species:
Hermann's tortoises have entered the pet trade through European exports. Hermann's tortoises are also used for food in some Asian countries.
Positive Impacts: pet trade ; food
For Hermann's tortoise eggs to be able to develop and hatch successfully, the temperature must stay in the range of 23 to 34°C, and mortalty rates are still quite high at the extreme ends of this range. Soil temperature directly determines the sex of the hatchling. When the temperature is between 31.5 and 33.5°C, more males than females are born (85 to 90% males at 33°C). However, this patterns follows a bell curve - at 31.5 and 34°C, the sex ratio is nearly 50:50. After hatching, the hatchlings are at a high risk of predation and stay close to their nests, only leaving their hatching sites after their carapace has completely developed and hardened.
Development - Life Cycle: temperature sex determination; indeterminate growth
Hermann's tortoises are listed as "Near threatened" on the IUCN red list. Populations have declined due to construction, poaching, wildfires, and herbicides. Construction results in drastic habitat loss and fragmentation. Road construction, especially, separates tortoise populations and leads to vehicular mortality. Wildfires have been reported to have eradicated up to 50% of the population. The effects of these disturbances have a large impact on Hermann's tortoise populations, due to their long lifespans and late age at sexual maturity. Reintroduction programs have been implemented in an attempt to stabilize existing populations.
US Federal List: no special status
CITES: no special status
State of Michigan List: no special status
Hermann's tortoises communicate through a variety of visual, auditory, olfactory, and tactile signals. These signals are used in several different ways in reproduction. Females use vision to choose quality mates based on favorable morphological traits. Males also use high-pitched calls to attract females. If a female accepts the male's call, the male will be allowed to mount the female and mate. Before mating, Hermann's tortoises sniff for olfactory signals emitted by females, although it is not fully known what these olfactory signals represent.
Communication Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
Other Communication Modes: pheromones ; scent marks
Perception Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
Hermann's tortoises breed seasonally in February after their winter hibernation. Females use visual cues and high-ptched calls that are made by males to choose quality mates. It appears that olfactory cues are also used in mate selection, although their exact mechanism is still unknown. Males also compete to mate with females by biting the female's legs, but are not as aggressive as other species of tortoises. Females and males both have multiple mates.
Mating System: polygynandrous (promiscuous)
Hermann's tortoises begin mating immediately following hibernation, which ends in late February. Females build nests by digging into the ground, and then deposit their eggs several centimeters deep in the soil. Females may lay more than one clutch of eggs in one breeding season. Incubation lasts an average of 90 days, with the eggs hatching in mid-August to September. Under ideal temperature circumstances, up to 75% of eggs laid will be viable.
Breeding interval: Hermann's tortoises breed once yearly
Breeding season: Breeding occurs at the end of hibernation (late February), with nesting beginning in May and ending in July.
Average number of offspring: 3.
Range gestation period: 80 to 100 days.
Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; seasonal breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; fertilization ; oviparous
There is no parental investment in this species once eggs have been laid. The only protection females give comes from placing her eggs in a nest that is underground. After laying their eggs, females leave them on their own. Hatchlings usually stay near the nest for the first few years of their lives to allow their carapace to completely develop.
Parental Investment: no parental involvement; female parental care ; pre-fertilization (Provisioning, Protecting: Female); pre-hatching/birth (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female)
Hermann's tortoise (Testudo hermanni) is a species of tortoise. Two subspecies are known: the western Hermann's tortoise (T. h. hermanni ) and the eastern Hermann's tortoise (T. h. boettgeri ). Sometimes mentioned as a subspecies, T. h. peleponnesica is not yet confirmed to be genetically different from T. h. boettgeri.
The specific epithet, hermanni, honors French naturalist Johann Hermann.[4]
The subspecific name, boettgeri, honors German herpetologist Oskar Boettger.[4]
Testudo hermanni can be found throughout southern Europe. The western population (T. h. hermanni) is found in eastern Spain, southern France, the Balearic islands, Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, southern and central Italy (Tuscany). The eastern population (T. h. boettgeri ) is found in Serbia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Turkey and Greece, while T. h. hercegovinensis populates the coasts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Montenegro.
The oldest known evidence for T. hermanni on Sardinia is a fossil from the early Pleistocene of Monte Tuttavista. However, molecular evidence suggests extant populations of both this species and Emys orbicularis on Sardinia were actually introduced in recent times.[5]
Hermann's tortoises are small to medium-sized tortoises from southern Europe. Young animals and some adults have attractive black and yellow-patterned carapaces, although the brightness may fade with age to a less distinct gray, straw, or yellow coloration. They have slightly hooked upper jaws and, like other tortoises, possess no teeth,[6] just strong, horny beaks.[7] Their scaly limbs are greyish to brown, with some yellow markings, and their tails bear a spur (a horny spike) at the tip.[7] Adult males have particularly long and thick tails,[8] and well-developed spurs, distinguishing them from females.[7]
The eastern subspecies T. h. boettgeri is much larger than the western T. h. hermanni, reaching sizes up to 28 cm (11 in) in length. A specimen of this size may weigh 3–4 kg (6.6–8.8 lb). T. h. hermanni rarely grows larger than 18 cm (7.1 in). Some adult specimens are as small as 7 cm (2.8 in).
Male of T. h. hermanni
Female of T. h. hermanni
Female of T. h. boettgeri
In 2006, Hermann's tortoise was suggested to be moved to the genus Eurotestudo and to bring the subspecies to the rank of species (Eurotestudo hermanni and Eurotestudo boettgeri).[9] Although some factors indicate this might be correct,[10] the data at hand are not unequivocally in support and the relationships between Hermann's and the Russian tortoise among each other and to the other species placed in Testudo are not robustly determined. Hence, it seems doubtful that the new genus will be accepted for now. The elevation of the subspecies to full species was tentatively rejected under the biological species concept at least, as there still seems significant gene flow.[11]
Of note, the rate of evolution as measured by mutations accumulating in the mtDNA differs markedly, with the eastern populations having evolved faster. This is apparently due to stronger fragmentation of the population on the mountainous Balkans during the last ice age. While this has no profound implications for taxonomy of this species, apart from suggesting that two other proposed subspecies are actually just local forms at present, it renders the use of molecular clocks in Testudo even more dubious and unreliable than they are for tortoises in general.[12][13][11]
The subspecies T. h. hermanni includes the former subspecies T. h. robertmertensi and has a number of local forms. It has a highly arched shell with an intensive coloration, with its yellow coloration making a strong contrast to the dark patches. The colors wash out somewhat in older animals, but the intense yellow is often maintained. The underside has two connected black bands along the central seam.
The coloration of the head ranges from dark green to yellowish, with isolated dark patches. A particular characteristic is a yellow fleck on the cheek found in most specimens, although not in all; T. h. robertmertensi is the name of a morph with very prominent cheek spots. Generally, the forelegs have no black pigmentation on their undersides. The base of the claws is often lightly colored. The tail in males is larger than in females and possesses a spike. Generally, the shell protecting the tail is divided. A few specimens can be found with undivided shells, similar to the Greek tortoise.
The subspecies T. h. hercegovinensis, known as the Dalmatian tortoise,[14] (Balkans coast) and the local T. h. peloponnesica (southwestern Peloponnesus coast) are now included here; they constitute local forms that are not yet geographically or in other ways reproductively isolated and apparently, derive from relict populations of the last ice age.[11] The eastern Hermann's tortoises also have arched, almost round carapaces, but some are notably flatter and more oblong. The coloration is brownish with a yellow or greenish hue and with isolated black flecks. The coloring tends to wash out quite strongly in older animals. The underside is almost always solid horn color and has separate black patches on either side of the central seam.
The head is brown to black, with fine scales. The forelegs similarly possess fine scales. The limbs generally have five claws, which are darkly colored at their base. The hind legs are noticeably thicker than the forelegs, almost plump. The particularly strong tail ends in a spike, which may be very large in older male specimens. Females have noticeably smaller tail spikes, which are slightly bent toward the body. They can vary in size, but don't grow a huge amount. Their age can be around 70-80 years.
Adult female, Bulgaria
Female T. h. boettgeri (left) and T. h. hercegovinensis tail openings
Female T. h. peloponnesica
Early in the morning, the animals leave their nightly shelters, which are usually hollows protected by thick bushes or hedges, to bask in the sun and warm their bodies. They then roam about the Mediterranean meadows of their habitat in search of food. They determine which plants to eat by the sense of smell. In captivity, they eat a variety of wildflowers, however care must be taken regarding which are made available, as some flowers such as buttercups are toxic to them. Certain plants such as dandelion and kale are high in oxalic acid, which can build up over time causing renal failure, it is therefore important to carefully monitor their diet and give a varied selection of wildflower leaves. All pre prepared food pellets are bad for Hermann's tortoises, proving addictive, often resulting in unnatural growth rates and the refusal to eat natural foods. Certain foods may prove toxic despite the tortoises enjoyment of them, including legumes, tomatoes and cabbage. The animals eat small amounts of fruits as supplementary nutrition, however this should only be given occasionally.
Around midday, the sun becomes too hot for the tortoises, so they return to their hiding places. They have a good sense of direction to enable them to return. Experiments have shown they also possess a good sense of time, the position of the sun, the magnetic lines of the earth, and for landmarks. In the late afternoon, they leave their shelters again and return to feeding.
In late February, Hermann's tortoises emerge from under bushes or old rotting wood, where they spend the winter months hibernating, buried in a bed of dead leaves.[7] Immediately after surfacing from their winter resting place, Hermann's tortoises commence courtship and mating.[7] Courtship is a rough affair for the female, which is pursued, rammed, and bitten by the male, before being mounted. Aggression is also seen between rival males during the breeding season, which can result in ramming contests.[8]
Between May and July, female Hermann's tortoises deposit between two and 12 eggs into flask-shaped nests dug into the soil,[8] up to 10 cm (3.9 in) deep.[7] Most females lay more than one clutch each season.[8] The pinkish-white eggs are incubated for around 90 days and, like many reptiles,[8] the temperature at which the eggs are incubated determines the hatchlings sex. At 26 °C, only males will be produced, while at 30 °C, all the hatchlings will be female.[7] Young Hermann's tortoises emerge just after the start of the heavy autumn rains in early September and spend the first four or five years of their lives within just a few metres of their nests.[8] If the rains do not come, or if nesting took place late in the year, the eggs will still hatch, but the young will remain underground and not emerge until the following spring. Until the age of six or eight, when the hard shell becomes fully developed, the young tortoises are very vulnerable to predators and may fall prey to rats, badgers, magpies, foxes, wild boar, and many other animals. If they survive these threats, the longevity of Hermann's tortoises is around 30 years.[7] One rare record of longevity is 31.7 years.[15] Compared to other tortoises (e.g. Testudo graeca),[15] the longevity might be underestimated and many sources are reporting they might live 90 years[16] or more.
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In nature, Hermann’s tortoises dig their nightly shelters out and spend the relatively mild Mediterranean winters there. During this time, their heart and breathing rates drop notably. Domestic animals can be kept in the basement in a roomy rodent-proof box with a thick layer of dry leaves. The temperature should be around 5 °C. As an alternative, the box can be stored in a refrigerator. For this method to be used, the refrigerator should be in regular day-to-day use, to permit air flow. During hibernation, the ambient temperature must not fall below zero. Full-grown specimens may sleep four to five months at a time.
Hermann's tortoise can be kept indoors with adequate living conditions provided by the owner. It requires a heat lamp set at around 15–30 °C (59–86 °F) to provide a basking area.[5] A UVB bulb is also needed to help process and create vitamin D3 and prevents issues such as metabolic bone disease.[9]
The species is included in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) meaning international export/import requires CITES documentation to be obtained and presented to border authorities.[2]
Many ways have been introduced to help conserve the Testudo Hermanni . A program introduced in 1989 and 1990 reintroduced tortoises to the population, put fences to reduce highway traffic towards the tortoises and more. [17]This was shown to help the tortoises numbers raise by reintroducing other tortoises of the same species.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) This article incorporates text from the ARKive fact-file "Hermann's tortoise" under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License and the GFDL.
Hermann's tortoise (Testudo hermanni) is a species of tortoise. Two subspecies are known: the western Hermann's tortoise (T. h. hermanni ) and the eastern Hermann's tortoise (T. h. boettgeri ). Sometimes mentioned as a subspecies, T. h. peleponnesica is not yet confirmed to be genetically different from T. h. boettgeri.
