Posted by:
jerry d. fife
at Sat Apr 16 18:38:21 2011 [ Report Abuse ] [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by jerry d. fife ]
My brother and I just returned from a trip to Ethiopia to look for the giant Ethiopian Leopard tortoises. Pictured is a 28" giant male that we found. The typical male was 24"-28" and the typical female was a few inches smaller.
Kind of makes those little p. pardalis in South Africa like Car Jack who was 24" look small!
I think it has to be a new subspecies. It currently would be classified as Stigmochelys pardalis babcocki; but due to size, coloration the fact that males grow larger than females (most babcocki the males are smaller)I don't consider it babcocki, so I'll name it after my brother and I and call it S. pardalis fifeii. Sounds reasonable to me!
Hope you enjoy the photo.
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 Ethiopian Leopard Tortoise - jerry d. fife, Sat Apr 16 18:38:21 2011 
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