Asian forest tortoise

Brown tortoise

The Brown tortoise ( Manouria emys ) is a species of the family of tortoises, which belongs to the genus of the rear Indian tortoises. It is native to two subspecies in the southern and southeastern Asia. It is with her around the largest Landschildkrötenart that occurs in Asia.

Appearance

The Brown tortoise is one of the great tortoises. Their carapace length is up to 60 inches and it weighs up to 37 kilograms. The hochrückige tanks of this kind is dark brown to blackish. He has sometimes to orange rays wreaths. The very massive limbs and head are almost black. Full-grown individuals have on the back of the thighs greatly enlarged scales. The front legs have five toes nails. In contrast, the hind legs have only four toenails. Males are distinguished from females by the longer and thicker tail and a slightly concave plastron.

Distribution area

The distribution area of the brown tortoise extends from Assam in the far east of India over Bangladesh to Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia. It is located on Sumatra and Borneo. In Vietnam, this turtle is introduced.

It comes in their area of ​​distribution into two subspecies:

• The nominate Manouria emys emys can be found in southern Thailand to Malaysia to Borneo and Sumatra.
• The subspecies Manouria emys pharyei comes from central Thailand to Myanmar and northeastern India and eastern Bangladesh ago.

Habitat and behavior

The habitat of the brown tortoise are evergreen forests of tropical Asia. They can be found here, especially in the highlands. Your preferred habitat has a temperature range of 13-29 ° C. The relative humidity is between 60 and 100 percent. Brown tortoises keep preferably in the vicinity of water, and often lie for hours in the water. In very hot weather, the brown tortoises dig a well in the moist soil or in leaf litter. Young Brown tortoises grow only if they have an ambient temperature of at least 18 degrees. The most active phase shows this turtle at dawn and dusk.

Brown tortoises are primarily herbivorous. They eat grass, vegetables, leaves and fruits. But they are also at it has been observed to feed on invertebrates and amphibians.

Reproduction

Brown tortoise has an unusual turtle reproductive manner. The females build with the help of her front legs a Nisthaufen from leaves, sand and grass, which can have a diameter of 1 to almost 2.5 meters. He is between 20 and 50 inches high. In this pile, the female digs the Nistgrube. Do not makes use of the forelegs but her head. After oviposition, the female covered with the help of the hind legs the nest and guarded this. Predators are distributed by her by biting and pushing away. If the predators are too quick for it, she lies also on the Nistgrube. This behavior is unique among turtles. No other turtle species shows a comparable level of parental care. The time period in which this parental care is shown is, 2-20 days.

The respective nest is very large. It can include 31-60 eggs. The eggs have a diameter from 4.5 to 5.4 inches and weigh 53-80 grams. The time period which elapses until juveniles hatch from the eggs, is dependent on the ambient temperature and relative humidity. The young hatch after 62 to 74 days.

Stock

In various parts of Asia Brown tortoises are eaten and processed parts of the body to medicine. The trade of this kind is another factor leading to population declines. In addition, an increasing habitat destruction has a negative effect on stocks and has meant that there has been strong inventory declines in individual regions of their range. The IUCN classified the species as endangered one. It is listed in Appendix II of CITES.