Anyone could shed some light on aldabra tortoise subspecies ?

tortoiseowner101

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5 Year Member
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May 20, 2013
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Abu Dhabi ,UAE
Hi everybody,
After 2 years living in a tortoise-free home i decided to take the plunge and buy an aldabra tortoise, while doing some research i came across that there are recognised aldabra tortoise subspecies ? I hope anyone would shed some light on this topic so i could identify what subspecies ill be getting.
Thank you,
Yazan
 

Alaskamike

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Jul 2, 2014
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South Florida
I am not an authority. But when I decided to get an Aldabra, my preparation involved reading allot about their history, current wild populations, breeding programs as well as availability and care.

In that process this is in general what I understand.
- At one time there were several ( I don't know how many ) unique types of Aldabra depended t on the island they were on & the geologyfood sources available.
- Many of these areas were almost decimated by sailors collecting them for food & sales.
- in the process of re-establishing populations of wild Aldabra, they were moved to different places & placed in breeding programs for re-population.
- These programs have been highly successful
- in the process , the unique individual differences have become blurred since mating can take place among all types.
- today , while one can see a few differences in adults - such as flatter wider shells as opposed to higher, more rounded form. Specific " type" would be hard if not unproductive to determine.

Most - if not all Aldabra today are of the same " type" and that would be mixed genetics producing some variants , but largely indistinguishable from one another.

Well , there is a somewhat vague idea. You may find more info with research.

Good fortune to you
Mike
 
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