Plrase I.D. this tortoise on a rescue site

Toddrickfl1

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Desert tortoise I think.
 

Yvonne G

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Is the rescue site in California or Florida? Those eyes say desert tortoise to me, but if Florida, it's a gopher tortoise.
 

zovick

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FL but it looks like the desert tortoise. Up in Destin
The two species are members of the same genus and do look alike. I am not sure what the readily visible differences between the two are, if any do exist.
 

Yvonne G

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The two species are members of the same genus and do look alike. I am not sure what the readily visible differences between the two are, if any do exist.
I've never seen a Gopher up close, but the eyes on the tortoise in this picture are the eyes of a desert tortoise for sure. Maybe Gophers have those eyes too, I don't know.
 

zovick

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I've never seen a Gopher up close, but the eyes on the tortoise in this picture are the eyes of a desert tortoise for sure. Maybe Gophers have those eyes too, I don't know.
I have seen both species and they look pretty similar to me. I would have to have a scientific book to tell them apart for sure.

Thinking about this a bit more, the one in the first picture might even be a TX Tortoise because they look very much same as Gopher and Desert Tortoises (at least to me). Although the TX species doesn't get as large as adults of the other two species, the younger ones might all look much the same.
 

Yvonne G

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I have seen both species and they look pretty similar to me. I would have to have a scientific book to tell them apart for sure.

Thinking about this a bit more, the one in the first picture might even be a TX Tortoise because they look very much same as Gopher and Desert Tortoises (at least to me). Although the TX species doesn't get as large as adults of the other two species, the younger ones might all look much the same.
The majority of the Texans have a big 'V' instead of a nuchal scute, however, there are so many DT/Texas crosses that a few of the Texans have a nuchal scute. I have six berlandieri and two of them have a nuchal scute.
 

William Lee Kohler

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Having pyramiding doesn't help with ID but what would a Desert be doing in FL? I'd vote Gopher unless shell is rounder(looking down on it)than Gopher or Desert which could make it Berlandiers.
 
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