Valerie0426
Member
- Joined
- Jul 27, 2016
- Messages
- 73
Why are they called "hinge back"?
This made me Laugh and it's true.the most non-tortoise tortoise of all.
They have a hinged area across their back so they can close off their rear and back legs from potential depredation. Like box turtle, has a hinge on the plastron, (bottom shell) that allows them to close off both front and back.Why are they called "hinge back"?
Thank you. Is there a picture someone may have? I am curious, I can't imagine it.They have a hinged area across their back so they can close off their rear and back legs from potential depredation. Like box turtle, has a hinge on the plastron, (bottom shell) that allows them to close off both front and back.
Thank you @Yvonne G for giving the answer I was looking for.
This tortoise has closed his hinge on both sides at the back. You can see the hinge above the rear leg.
And in this picture you can see the hinge open:
Thank you @Yvonne G for giving the answer I was looking for.
@Juli 11[USER] I don't know what you're talking about!
Julian
You are going to have to explain to me the difference between a spekii and a lobatsiana.
Now zombensis will hybridize naturally with spekii. Lobatsiana I don't think they range over one another in Botswana. Easiest way to distinguish between most kinixys is the beak as you stated. Speki have a big bird like beak, smooth marginal posterior scutes, lobatsisiana are very serrated at the flank, and have a much different head. I suppose I should update my kinixys diversification thread. I actually identified a recent import specimen of a friend, that appears to be a hybrid between spekii and zombensis. Has both characteristics and even the shell of a zombensis but not 100%. That's one tough thing about em. A lot of em overlap in range.Very very difficult to say. For me it's the shell pattern ( spekii looks yellow/ lobatsiana looks brown to red) and the head. Spekii has a smaller not so big head like lobatsiana. But there are not enough animals to make a 100% difference.
For me Kinixys spekii have subspecies. They couldn't be all the same species. And what I think it that there are hybrids between spekii and lobatsiana in the areas where both of them exist.