A 'Must Have' book...

[cdmay]

Does anyone have pics or links to pics of the offspring?
[/quote]

Yep. I have a couple of print photos that a friend sent me a few years ago. Looks like a redfoot with solid orange legs and an orange throat.
I'll take a digital photo of the prints and send them to you.

 

[-EJ]

This tortoise is becoming quite famous. It looks to be female... I wonder if it reproduces.

These are the shots I have... It really pisses me off I don't have a corresponding note as to where the photos came from but I'm sure It's burried in my emails somewhere because this person obviously sent me a first hand acount which I appreciated to no end.

Wierd head shot.


Carapace shot... Shape of a Radiated and the colors of a RF.


Then the plastron shot...

In the South American Tortoises book...they mentioned something about a redfoot tortoise and radiated tortoise crossbreeding...I forgot what page.

Does anyone have pics or links to pics of the offspring?

 

[cdmay]

Ed,
That looks like the same animal I have the photos of although the two I have were taken when it was much smaller.
I bet it can reproduce. Just look at some of those multi-generic colubrid crosses that have been done recently.

 

[-EJ]

Like I said... that tortoise is famous among tortoise fanatics.

I just wonder... as to it being able to breed... that would be a good deal of insight.

I've seen Leopardxsulcatas... never an offspring.

Ed,
That looks like the same animal I have the photos of although the two I have were taken when it was much smaller.
I bet it can reproduce. Just look at some of those multi-generic colubrid crosses that have been done recently.

 

[gummybearpoop]

Thanks Ed and Carl!!!

 

[Madkins007]

If the offspring IS fertile, it would sure mess up the whole 'Chelonoidis' genera thing, wouldn't it?

From a zoogeographical view- the idea that Geochelone was a species of tortoise spread through South America and Africa when they were still joined- the ability of the two to breed makes sense. It does not take a lot of imagination to see Radiateds and Red-foots as being the same 'body plan' shaped by habitat and diet over millenia.

 

[Jacqui]

One kinda hopes it does turn out to be fertile.

 

[Madkins007]

By the way, EJ, you seem to have started a rush for the book! It is backordered when I ordered it last week!

 

[carrilac]

By the way, EJ, you seem to have started a rush for the book! It is backordered when I ordered it last week!

me too! I tried to order it 2 weeks ago and can't get it!

 

[-EJ]

Sorry bout dat...

It's a good book on a currently popular tortoise...

I had to wait for my own copy...

By the way, EJ, you seem to have started a rush for the book! It is backordered when I ordered it last week!

me too! I tried to order it 2 weeks ago and can't get it!

 

[gummybearpoop]

This book brings up a lot of great points.

One thing I really enjoyed reading was about the fruits that redfoots typically eat in the wild. A lot of us have the misconception that when redfoots eat a lot of fruit in the wild, we think: strawberries, papaya, cantalope, plums, and all kinds of other fruits that are very high in sugars and moisture. This book explains so much about the diet of south american tortoises and diet is always a big controversy with all tortoises, but especially red-footed tortoises.

Does anyone know when that Spider Tortoise book is supposed to be released or if it is already released? I remember seeing the advertisement in the back of the Star Tortoises book by Jerry Fife.

 

[-EJ]

That's why I love this book so much. It is one of the most accurate accounts of the species.

I didn't know there was a spider tortoise book in the works.

This book brings up a lot of great points.

One thing I really enjoyed reading was about the fruits that redfoots typically eat in the wild. A lot of us have the misconception that when redfoots eat a lot of fruit in the wild, we think: strawberries, papaya, cantalope, plums, and all kinds of other fruits that are very high in sugars and moisture. This book explains so much about the diet of south american tortoises and diet is always a big controversy with all tortoises, but especially red-footed tortoises.

Does anyone know when that Spider Tortoise book is supposed to be released or if it is already released? I remember seeing the advertisement in the back of the Star Tortoises book by Jerry Fife.

 

[gummybearpoop]

I didn't know there was a spider tortoise book in the works.

I will have to check my book out tonight...I forgot who the author is. I think it must have been delayed or something. Hopefully, not cancelled.

 

[Madkins007]

It came, it came! I did a 'deep scan' and love it. I posted a review at http://www.turtleforum.com in the Herper's Cafe section.

Lots of good stuff to evaluate and impliment in there!