Dark hatchling

[Leopard Tortoise Lover 16199]

I think you should name it Midnight! Or Twilight!

 

[Anthony P]

Really cool! And I love seeing the convo between you guys. Great way to learn.

 

[cdmay]

Northern Versions -

Those are very cool!

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South Brazil and northern Paraguay cherry heads are still gran Chaco. She is shaped like a gran Chaco. Almost a twin of one of my huge females. But mine is 16 maybe 17"

I'm not entirely sure if cherry-heads are actually found in Paraguay. Thomas and Sabine Vinke as well as Jim Buskirk, all of whom have traveled extensively within Paraguay (and checked all the museum specimens) have assured me that the 'cherry-head' form of red-footed tortoise does not naturally occur in that country. But Sabine Vinke has later said that although they might be found in the extreme N.E. corner of Paraguay, they are certainly not found in exportable numbers.
As far as I know most if not all of the cherry-heads in this country have originated from the state of Bahia, Brazil located in the S.E. part of the country. I know that all of the animals I have did.
But cherry-heads, regardless of size and shape are still very different tortoises from the giant Chaco animals.

Ahh yes. I did not disclose that very well. I agree. I do not think cherryheads are found in Paraguay. However Cherryheads are still classified in with all the other types of chelonoidis depending on their range. Brazil has quite the amount of types of red foots. I would have to say Vargus/Ramirez research on DNA clusters that classified the different types. In looking back at the map. I see question marks where your lovely guys are from. So that being said. You may be onto something for sure with a S.E type. Good stuff though. Again too, that baby is great looking.

Im not sure if I recall the animals that were brought in are the same I am thinking of. But it was around the same time frame. A man in Florida had them for sale in the mid 90s. They were northern Paraguay, and Southern Brazil. Massive specimens of 24-26" jet black and solid blood red heads. Never seen them after that. But all in all the red head cherry heads are just a genetic trait carried on and really doesn't classify them as a different type. At least that is my understanding of the research I have read through.

Brazil is a huge country and it is likely that there are a number of unique populations of both red-foots and yellow-foots that collectors and hobbyists in this country have no idea about. At best we are simply armchair taxonomists.
About 30 years ago I was at Peter Pritchard's home and he showed me some photos of red-footed tortoises from the Mata Grosso region of Brazil. They were gigantic animals with orange carapace blotches and deep orange color on the head and legs. At first you would assume yellow-foots but he assured me that they were just strange, giant red-foots.
Peter also had a number of red-footed tortoises that he had brought home from the island of Barbuda (in those days you could get away with stuff like that). They were almost uniform in that they had nearly solid black shells and orange/red heads and legs. They were clearly some type of Northern red-foot but probably a mixture of various genetic backgrounds.

 

[Bryan]

As always great torts Carl!