Well, if they are full sized adults, the pardalis pardalis will be a good bit larger, especially the females. Also their leg scales are generally more "pointed" or exaggerated in appearance.

The pardalis pardalis also have a lower domed shell, while pardalis babcocki have a higher domed shell. Scientifically, it is stated that the ratio of the carapace height divided by carapace length is 2.02-2.62 in p. babcocki and 1.61-2.07 in p. pardalis.

A blood test could probably be done, but there are only a couple of geneticists/labs capable of handling that job, and I doubt that the service would be readily available to the general public unless at a fairly high price.

I do know that the types of Stars and the Travancore, Elongated, and Forsten's Tortoises can be differentiated by DNA blood testing, but it takes a lot of time and lab work.

Overall, you are probably best off if you can trace the origin of the specimen(s) in question back to their breeder or importer to be sure exactly what you are getting. This is kind of similar to trying to be sure you are actually buying a Sri Lankan Star vs. an Indian Star. I always tell people who ask me about that differentiation that if they are unable to trace the origin of the animal to its breeder/importer and to talk personally with everyone who has owned it AND TRUST EACH ONE OF THEM IMPLICITLY, to assume they are getting an Indian Star.

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