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Kinixys spekii GRAY, 1863

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Higher TaxaTestudinidae, Testudinoidea, Testudines (turtles)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Speke’s Hinged-back tortoise, Speke's Hingeback Tortoise, savanna hingeback 
SynonymKinixys spekii GRAY 1863
Homopus darlingi BOULENGER 1902: 15
Testudo procterae LOVERIDGE 1923 (fide BROADLEY & HOWELL 1991: 8)
Kinixys spekii — HEWITT 1931: 469
Kinixys jordani HEWITT 1931: 482
Kinixys youngi HEWITT 1931: 486
Kinixys australis HEWITT 1931: 477
Kinixys australis mababiensis FITZSIMONS 1932: 37
Kinixys belliana — WERMUTH & MERTENS 1977: 70
Kinixys belliana — AUERBACH 1987: 69
Kinixys belliana spekii — IVERSON 1992: 271
Kinixys spekii — BROADLEY 1998
Kinixys spekii — VALVERDE 2005
Kinixys spekii — VAN DIJK et al. 2012
Kinixys spekii — SPAWLS et al. 2018: 33
Kinixys spekii — TTWG 2021 
DistributionAngola, Botswana, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire), Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia (Caprivi), Rwanda,South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Type locality: Central Africa (probably NW Tanzania fide BROADLEY & HOWELL 1991).  
Reproductionoviparous. 
TypesHolotype: BMNH 1936.5.3.117
Holotype: DNMNH (= TM) 14689, adult female [mababiensis] 
DiagnosisAdditional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (654 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentSynonymy: after VAN DIJK et al. 2012. WERMUTH & MERTENS 1977 listed Testudo procterae as a synonym of Malacochersus tornieri.

Distribution: after VAN DIJK et al. 2012; see map in Kindler et al. 2012 (supplement) and Hailey et al. 2021. 
EtymologyNamed after Captain John Hanning Speke (1827-1864), an explorer. He was the first European to see Lake Victoria (Lake Nyanza), proving it to be the source of the Nile. 
References
  • Auerbach, R.D. 1987. The Amphibians and Reptiles of Botswana. Mokwepa Consultants, Botswana, 295 pp.
  • Bates, M.F.; Branch, W.R., Bauer, A.M.; Burger, M., Marais, J.; Alexander, G.J. & de Villliers, M.S. (eds.) 2014. Atlas and Red List of the Reptiles of South Africa, Lesotho, and Swaziland. Suricata 1. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria, 512 pp.
  • Beolens, Bo; Michael Watkins, and Michael Grayson 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA - get paper here
  • Bittencourt-Silva GB. 2019. Herpetological survey of western Zambia. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 13(2) [Special Section]: 1-28 (e181) - get paper here
  • Bonin, F., Devaux, B. & Dupré, A. 2006. Turtles of the World. English translation by P.C.H. Pritchard. Johns Hopkins University Press, 416 pp.
  • Boulenger, George Albert 1902. A List of the Fishes, Batrachians, and Reptiles collected by Mr. J. ffolliott Darling in Mashonaland, with Descriptions of new Species. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London (London), 1902: 13-18. - get paper here
  • Bour, Roger 2006. Le genre Kinixys Bell: histoire nomenclaturale et taxinomique. Chéloniens 3:8-15.
  • Bourquin, O. 2009. Reptiles (Reptilia) in KwaZulu-Natal: I - diversity and distribution. Durban Museum Novitates 29: 57-103
  • BRANCH, B. 2009. Kinixys spekii (Daudin, 1802) Predation. African Herp News (50): 25-26 - get paper here
  • Branch, W.R. 2008. PROPOSED KALUKUNDI MINE (DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO) - TERRESTRIAL FAUNA. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT REPORT (FINAL REPORT). A specialist report for Envirolution Consulting (Pty) Ltd., 83 pp.
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  • Broadley, D.G. 1991. The Herpetofauna of Northern Mwinilunga Distr., Northw. Zambia. Arnoldia Zimbabwe 9 (37): 519-538
  • Broadley, D.G. 1993. A review of the southern African species of Kinixys Bell (Reptilia: Testudinidae). Annals Transvaal Museum 36 (6): 41-52 - get paper here
  • Broadley, D.G. 1997. Osteological characters of the shell and humerus in hinged tortoises of the African genus Kinixys. Chelonian Conserv. Biol. 2 (4): 526-531
  • Broadley, D.G. 1998. The reptilian fauna of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Congo-Kinshasa). In: Schmidt, K.P. and Noble, G.K., Contributions to the Herpetology of the Belgian Congo... [reprint of the 1919 and 1923 papers]. SSAR Facsimile reprints in Herpetology, 780 pp.
  • Broadley,D.G. 1992. The Savannah species of Kinixys (Testudinidae). J. Herp. Assoc. Africa 40: 12-13 - get paper here
  • Buruwate, T. C., & Lloyd-Jones, D. J. 2024. Amphibian and Reptile Diversity of Niassa Special Reserve, Northern Mozambique. Journal of East African Natural History, 113(1), 1-18 - get paper here
  • Ceríaco, Luis M. P., Aaron M. Bauer, David C. Blackburn and Ana C. F. C. Lavres. 2014. The herpetofauna of the Capanda Dam Region, Malanje, Angola. Herpetological Review 45 (4): 667-674 - get paper here
  • Cimatti, E. 2006. Reptile Parks in Tanzania. Reptilia (GB) (48): 52-59 - get paper here
  • Farooq, Harith; Cristóvão Nanvonamuquitxo, Bibiana Nassongole, Werner Conradie, Roger Bills, Amadeu Soares, and Alexandre Antonelli 2022. Shedding Light on a Biodiversity Dark Spot: Survey Of Amphibians and Reptiles of Pemba Region in Northern Mozambique. Herpetological Conservation and Biology 17 (2): - get paper here
  • FitzSimons, V. 1932. Preliminary descriptions of new forms of South African Reptilia and Amphibia, from the Vernay-Lang Kalahari Expedition, 1930. Annals Transvaal Mus. 15 (1): 35-40 - get paper here
  • Fritz, U., Tolley, K. A., Vamberger, M., & Ihlow, F. 2022. Phylogeny and phylogeography of chelonians from sub-Saharan Africa—A review of current knowledge in tribute to Margaretha D. Hofmeyr. Vertebrate Zoology, 72: 951-969 - get paper here
  • Gray, J. E. 1863. Notice of a new species of Kinixys and other tortoises from Central Africa. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (3) 12: 381 - get paper here
  • Hailey, A., Broadley, D.G., Boycott, R.C., and Spawls, S. 2021. Kinixys spekii Gray 1863 – Speke’s Hinge-back Tortoise, Speke’s Hinged Tortoise. In: Rhodin, A.G.J., Iverson, J.B., van Dijk, P.P., Stanford, C.B., Goode, E.V., Buhlmann, K.A., and Mittermeier, R.A. (Eds.). Conservation Biology of Freshwater Turtles Chelonian Research Monographs 5(15):115.1–14 - get paper here
  • Hailey, A.; Coulson, I.M. 1995. Habitat association of the tortoise Geochelone pardalis and Kinixys spekii in the Sengwa wildlife research area, Zimbabwe. The Herpetological Journal 5: 305-309 - get paper here
  • Harvan, Marek. 2007. The genus Kinixys. Radiata 16(4):11-27
  • Herrmann, H.-W.; W.R. Branch 2013. Fifty years of herpetological research in the Namib Desert and Namibia with an updated and annotated species checklist. Journal of Arid Environments 93: 94–115 - get paper here
  • Hewitt, J. 1935. Some new forms of batrachians and reptiles from South Africa. Rec. Albany Mus. 4: 283-357
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  • Ihlow F, Farooq HM, Gvoždík V, Hofmeyr MD, Conradie W, Campbell PD, Harvey J, Verburgt L, Fritz U. 2019. Geographic range extension of Speke’s Hinge-back Tortoise Kinixys spekii Gray, 1863. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 13(2) [Special Section]: 61–67 (e195) - get paper here
  • Kindler, Carolin; William R. Branch, Margaretha D. Hofmeyr, Jérôme Maran, Pavel Sˇiroky ́, Miguel Vences, James Harvey, J. Susanne Hauswaldt, Alfred Schleicher, Heiko Stuckas and Uwe Fritz 2012. Molecular phylogeny of African hinge-back tortoises (Kinixys): implications for phylogeography and taxonomy (Testudines: Testudinidae). J Zool Syst Evol Res - get paper here
  • Lambiris, A.J.I.; Lambiris, J.C.; Mather, S. 1989. Observations on Speke`s Hinged Tortoise, Kinixys spekii. J. Herp. Assoc. Africa (36): 68-71 - get paper here
  • Loveridge, A. 1923. Notes on East African tortoises collected 1921-1923, with the description of a new species of soft land tortoise. Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1923: 923-933 - get paper here
  • Marques, Mariana P.; Luis M. P. Ceríaco , David C. Blackburn , and Aaron M. Bauer 2018. Diversity and Distribution of the Amphibians and Terrestrial Reptiles of Angola -- Atlas of Historical and Bibliographic Records (1840–2017). Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci. (Ser. 4) 65: 1-501 (Supplement II)
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  • Miguel, A. R., Kaiser, H., Vargas, N. D., & Borges-Martins, M. 2024. Diversity and natural history of reptiles from coastal environments in Gilé National Park, northern Mozambique. Herpetology Notes, 17, 173-199
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  • Spawls, S.; Howell, K.; Drewes, R.C. & Ashe, J. 2002. A field guide to the reptiles of East Africa. Academic Press, 543 pp. [reviews in HR 34: 396 and Afr. J. Herp. 51; 147] - get paper here
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  • TTWG; Dijk, Peter Paul van; John B. Iverson, H. Bradley Shaffer; Roger Bour & Anders G.J. Rhodin [turtle taxonomy working group] 2012. Turtles of the World, 2012 Update: Annotated Checklist of Taxonomy, Synonymy, Distribution, and Conservation Status. Chelonian Research Monographs No. 5, doi:10.3854/crm.5.000.checklist.v5.2012 - get paper here
  • TTWG; Rhodin, A.G.J., Iverson, J.B., Bour, R., Fritz, U., Georges, A., Shaffer, H.B., and van Dijk, P.P. 2021. Turtles of the World: Annotated Checklist and Atlas of Taxonomy, Synonymy, Distribution, and Conservation Status (9th Ed.). In: Rhodin, A.G.J., Iverson, J.B., van Dijk, P.P., Stanford, C.B., Goode, E.V., Buhlmann, K.A., and Mittermeier, R.A. (Eds.). Chelonian Research Monographs 8:1–472. doi:10.3854/crm.8.checklist.atlas.v9.2021. - get paper here
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  • Valverde, J. 2005. Afrikanische Landschildkröten. Reptilia (Münster) 10 (56): 18-25 - get paper here
  • VISSER, J. 2010. Kinixys spekii (Gray, 1863). African Herp News (51): 22-24 - get paper here
 
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