Today, while visiting this Spanish site (from whom I bought my hatchling), I saw some Testudo Weissingeri Torts for sale (1 baby 100€, 2 babies 190€, 6 babies 540€).
They looked really nice (pics: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6), and I had never heard about them. So I did some google searches and came across some info saying the following:
"A population of small and light-colored Marginated Tortoises exists on the SW coast of the Peloponnesus, between Kalamata and south of Stoupa. The so-called "Dwarf Marginated Tortoise" was described as a new species Testudo weissingeri, but it is not recognizably distinct phylogenetically. Unlike the Sardinian population, it occupies an extremely restricted range with very arid habitat, and its apomorphies seem related to this. Considering ice age-associated climate and sea level changes, this population is probably not older than a few thousand years; as it is not geographically isolated, it should be considered a local morph, and not even a subspecies Testudo marginata weissingeri.(Fritz et al. 2005)"
-- From this site: http://wapedia.mobi/en/Marginated_Tortoise
I found adults pictured here: http://www.reptarium.cz/systematika.php?lang=en&cid=1232
Is anyone familiar with this pseudo-subspecies of Testudo Marginata?
They looked really nice (pics: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6), and I had never heard about them. So I did some google searches and came across some info saying the following:
"A population of small and light-colored Marginated Tortoises exists on the SW coast of the Peloponnesus, between Kalamata and south of Stoupa. The so-called "Dwarf Marginated Tortoise" was described as a new species Testudo weissingeri, but it is not recognizably distinct phylogenetically. Unlike the Sardinian population, it occupies an extremely restricted range with very arid habitat, and its apomorphies seem related to this. Considering ice age-associated climate and sea level changes, this population is probably not older than a few thousand years; as it is not geographically isolated, it should be considered a local morph, and not even a subspecies Testudo marginata weissingeri.(Fritz et al. 2005)"
-- From this site: http://wapedia.mobi/en/Marginated_Tortoise
I found adults pictured here: http://www.reptarium.cz/systematika.php?lang=en&cid=1232
Is anyone familiar with this pseudo-subspecies of Testudo Marginata?