NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
African Spurred Tortoise
Centrochelys sulcata (Miller, 1779)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The African spurred tortoise (Centrochelys sulcata), also called the sulcata tortoise, is an endangered species of tortoise inhabiting the southern edge of the Sahara Desert and the Sahel. It is the largest mainland species of tortoise in Africa, and the third-largest in the world, after the Galapagos tortoise and Aldabra giant tortoise. It is the only living species in its genus, Centrochelys.
Wikipedia contributors, African spurred tortoise; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T10:49:11.104493+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Centrochelys sulcata (Miller, 1779)
- Name authority
- (Miller, 1779)
- Common name
- African Spurred Tortoise
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Testudines
- Family
- Testudinidae
- Genus
- Centrochelys
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
- orderTestudines Batsch, 1788
- suborderCryptodira
- superfamilyTestudinoidea
- familyTestudinidae
- genusCentrochelys
- speciesCentrochelys sulcata (Miller, 1779)
Close classified relatives
No other member of this genus is present in the selected snapshot.
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Testudo calcarata Schneider, 1784 Schneider, 1784 | synonym |
| Testudo radiata var. senegalensis Gray, 1831 Gray, 1831 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Centrochelys&species=sulcata Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:S9KW. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.