Beautiful Burmese:

[conservation]

Two beauties.

 

[Markw84]

Isn't it interesting how the pattern grows in with irregular scutes? They are beautiful!

 

[conservation]

I'm not seeing the irregular scutes on this one. It might be the angle of the photo. Thanks she is getting big.

 

[Markw84]

I guess it is the angle of the picture. It looks like she has 4 central scutes instead of 5. I have one that is like that.

 

[Treeturtle3]

They are sooooh cute!!! How can you tell if it's burmese? I have a high yellow indian star and today received what is supposed to be sri lankan. His patterns radiate so in guessing he's burmese

 

[Treeturtle3]

So cute!!!

 

[CrocOdali]

@Treeturtle3 I think you can differentiate both Indian and Burmese star tortoises by the six yellow lines (Burmese) in comparison to 5 or so (Indian) on top of the shell.

@Pets101 awesome

 

[Markw84]

They are sooooh cute!!! How can you tell if it's burmese? I have a high yellow indian star and today received what is supposed to be sri lankan. His patterns radiate so in guessing he's burmese

A Burmese normally has 6 "rays" on the central scutes. Indians usually develop 8 or more. Burmese also have solid dark triangles on their plastral scutes, while Indian stars have a radiating pattern in those darker markings.

The black coloring for a Burmese fills in as they grow along the straight seams of the scutes leaving the "corners" where the adjacent scutes intersect without the color - showing the tan underlying color. That creates the rays of lighter color that go from the center of the scute to the intersections of the adjacent rows of scutes (centrals to costals, costals to marginal) So it looks like it's developing light rays on a black background, but its actually the black that is filling in. It's really interesting as it creates a very symmetrical pattern as the rays perfectly radiate out to all six corners of the hexagonal scutes of the costals. Along the sides, there will be more "rays" as more marginals intersect along the edge of a single scute.

Oh, well. Sorry for the long version answer. I love geometry in nature!!

 

[Treeturtle3]

I really do appreciate the explanation. It was well worth the read thank you!