Are my two russians the same??

[laney]

Got my two Russians from the same place and they were imported from the same place but was just told they were horsefields. I have noticed that there are sub species of some torts so was just wondering do you think they are the different types? Or do they just have different appearances kinda like humans?
It's hard to tell from the pics but Yoshi (near 1) is a lot darker on shell but also head is really dark skin compared to Harley (at the back).
Just curious

 

[GBtortoises]

Horsfields = Russians = Steppe = Afghan. They're all just common names for the same tortoise Testudo horsfieldi. As far as any possible subspecies, there has been some named, I think it's up to about four at present. None have yet to be widely accepted as true subspecies. So far they are considered by most to be regional variations of the single species T. horsfieldi. At one point T. horsfieldi was renamed Agrionemys horsfield because of it's supposed differences from the Testudo genus. The Agrionemys nomenclature is still used in some of Europe but for the most part the species is back to being known as Testudo in most of the rest of the world.

 

[laney]

Got my two Russians from the same place and they were imported from the same place but was just told they were horsefields. I have noticed that there are sub species of some torts so was just wondering do you think they are the different types? Or do they just have different appearances kinda like humans?
It's hard to tell from the pics but Yoshi (near 1) is a lot darker on shell but also head is really dark skin compared to Harley (at the back).
Just curious

Forgot the pic

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Horsfields = Russians = Steppe = Afghan. They're all just common names for the same tortoise Testudo horsfieldi. As far as any possible subspecies, there has been some named, I think it's up to about four at present. None have yet to be widely accepted as true subspecies. So far they are considered by most to be regional variations of the single species T. horsfieldi. At one point T. horsfieldi was renamed Agrionemys horsfield because of it's supposed differences from the Testudo genus. The Agrionemys nomenclature is still used in some of Europe but for the most part the species is back to being known as Testudo in most of the rest of the world.

Omg I have soo much to learn! So is it possible they could be different? Or is it just down to a name thing? They were both named the same where I got them. I just wondered because they look different

 

[GBtortoises]

The two Russian (Steppe, Afghan, Horsfield) tortoises in the photo look the same to me.

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

Got my two Russians from the same place and they were imported from the same place but was just told they were horsefields. I have noticed that there are sub species of some torts so was just wondering do you think they are the different types? Or do they just have different appearances kinda like humans?
It's hard to tell from the pics but Yoshi (near 1) is a lot darker on shell but also head is really dark skin compared to Harley (at the back).
Just curious

Forgot the pic

Look pretty much the same, but here's some further info (to add to the confusion) about potential subspecification:

Testudo horsfieldii horsfieldii
Testudo horsfieldii kazachstanica
Testudo horsfieldii rustamovi

I've heard that there are a few more potential subspecies in dispute, but I couldn't find that article.