Indian vs Sri Lankan Star tortoises.

[Tim/Robin]

We have been doing a bit of reading about Star tortoises. There does seem to be some controversy about differences in Indian and Sri Lankan stars. Jerry Fife, in his book Star Tortoises, reports that genetic testing has been done and no differences have been identified. It appears that locale is the only difference. Could it be then, that the size difference is merely one of environmental conditions? Or could it be that they have a dominant gene affecting growth? (similar to humans in that some grow over 6ft and others do not) If there is no genetic difference, how does one really know if the tortoise is Indian or Sri Lankan, unless the specific locale of origin is not known? Also, if there is no genetic difference, would there be any issues with breeding the two, other than simply size. If the male is big enough to get the job done, could breeding happen? What have others experienced with regards to this?

 

[Itort]

In my opinion the only way to tell is to know the exact location of origin. In general northern stars are larger and duller in color, southern stars are smaller and brighter in color, and Sri Lankan's are larger and brighter in color. Then throw in natural individual variation and you find a big bright northern, a big dull southern, ect. They would interbreed but I feel keeping geographic strains seperate is to followed when ever possible.

 

[Tim/Robin]

They would interbreed but I feel keeping geographic strains seperate is to followed when ever possible.

Thank you for the reply. It isn't as much as we are thinking of interbreeding, but rather if this is possible, there is no way to know what you are buying is really an Indian and not a Sri Lankan, and vice versa. If you are buying a hatchling someone could say they're selling you a Sri Lankan, since they sell for a lot more money, when you are actually getting an Indian. Right? Of course that is assuming the person even knows which locale the parents originated from. And maybe its done not maliciously, but unintentially.

So what is, specifically, the concern about breeding animals from two different areas who are the same species, but just look different? Please don't jump on us for asking this, its not that we are doing this or planning it. We are truly trying to understand the thought processes and rationale in order to form our own opinions. Is this any different than saying (with people) Africans and Americans should not "interbreed"?

From what we have read, it seems whether these groups are subspecies or not is controversial. This seems to be the case with many tortoises. Hmmmm, this is all very interesting.

 

[elegans]

I will try to take some time to follow up more thoroughly later regarding this post. But in short there are lots of misrepresented stars sold as SriLankans by scumbags. If you don't know the breeder and the history of the animals BEWARE! Literally thousands of stars have been smuggled into this country over the last 16 years that I have been raising reptiles. The same kind of people who do this will also market them as whatever will command the most money. As far as the DNA work that has been done I have not seen it or read it. I can tell you from personal experience though that Indians and SriLankans are very different animals. I will go into this later as far as sharing what I have noticed. Definitely not environmental. As far as hybrids I am sure that a male SriLankan would breed a female Indian with no problem. It would be hard if not impossible for a male Indian to breed a female SriLankan though. And I would say that I have probably seen some hybrids in the trade. Best wishes Douglas

 

[Tim/Robin]

Thanks for the reply, Douglas. we can't wait to learn more from you. As stated, we have a male Indian (that I am confident is an Indian, came from a great guy in Florida). We have every intention of finding a female Indian, and need to learn all we can to assure ourselves that we, indeed,get an Indian.