Red-Footed Tortoise

• GeneralThe males cluck like a hen in courtship.
• It is a key seed disperser: it swallows fruit whole and deposits the seeds far from the parent tree, and several plants of Amazonia and the cerrado germinate better after passing through its gut.
• Its capture for food soars during Holy Week in several South American countries, when it is traditionally regarded as meat permitted during abstinence, and that seasonal pressure is one of its main threats.
• It has been shown experimentally that it learns by watching other tortoises and that it solves mazes by remembering the route, cognitive abilities that were underestimated in chelonians.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton with a shell (reptile)

Habitat and environment

Dry forest, wooded savannah, cerrado and forest edges of northern and central South America

Sexual maturity

6 years

Gestation / incubation

140 days of incubation

Litter / clutch size

8 eggs

Sources consulted: Wikipedia (en): Red-footed tortoise