angonoka tortoise

Conservation status
Critically Endangered (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Testudines
Suborder:	Cryptodira
Family:	Testudinidae
Genus:	Astrochelys
Species:	A. yniphora
Binomial name
Astrochelys yniphora Vaillant, 1885[1]
Synonyms[2]
Testudo yniphora Vaillant, 1885 Testudo radiata yniphoraSiebenrock, 1909 Testudo hyniphora Vaillant & Grandidier, 1910 (ex errore) Asterochelys yniphora Loveridge & Williams, 1957 Geochelone yniphora Loveridge & Williams, 1957 Geochelone ynophora Arnold, 1979(ex errore) Astrochelys yniphora Bour, 1985 Testudo (Geochelone) yinphoraPaull, 1999 (ex errore) Angonoka yniphora Le, Raxworthy, McCord & Mertz, 2006

The angonoka tortoise (Astrochelys yniphora) is a critically endangered species of tortoise endemic to Madagascar.^[3] It is also known as the

This species was originally described in 1885 by French zoologist Léon Vaillant, who proposed it as the species Tesudo yniphora based on the distinguished shape of the anterior part of the plastron.

The angonoka tortoise (A. yniphora) along with the radiated tortoise (A. radiata) are the only species in the genus Astrochelys. Astrochelys is attributed to John Edward Gray who used the name in his 1873 book Hand-list of the specimens of shield reptiles in the British Museum.The parent family forAstrochelys is Testudinidae, the tortoise family.

The name angonoka comes from the Malagasy word which is used as the local name of the species.The alternative common name ploughshare tortoise refers to the appearance of the gular scute of the plastron.

The carapace is highly domed and light brown in colour with prominent growth rings on each scute. The outer parts of the vertebral is a darker brown.The gular scute of the plastron projects forward between the front legs and curves upward toward the neck.

Males are larger than females, reaching a carapace length up to 17 inches (43 cm). Fully grown male angonoka tortoises are larger, as well as heavier, than females. The average length of an adult male angonoka tortoise is 414.8 millimetres (16.33 in) and the average weight is 10.3 kilograms (23 lb). Females measure at a 370.1 millimetres (14.57 in) average and weigh a 8.8 kilograms (19 lb) average.

Distribution and habitat

  Angonoka tortoise range

In the wild this species is only found in Madagascar where it is endemic to the dry forests in the Baly Bayarea of northwestern Madagascar, near the town of Soalala. The distribution is a 25 to 60 square kilometres (9.7 to 23 sq mi) range around Baly Bay.

The Baly Bay region is made up of savanna, mangrove swamps, and dry deciduous forest. They make use of bamboo-scrub habitat which is made up of different types of shrubs, savanna grasses, bamboo, and open areas with no vegetation. The flora includes shrubbery usually under 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) in height, such asBauhinia and Terminalia species, and Perrierbambus madagascariensis bamboo, which forms dense thickets. The elevation of this area is under 50 metres (160 ft) above sea level.

The population estimate for the angonoka tortoise in the wild is about 600 individuals, ranging from 440 to 770, but is still decreasing. The tortoise is at an extremely high risk of extinction; it is thought it will become extinct in the wild in the next 10 to 15 years. It can be found in five sub-populations, two east of the and three west of the Andranomavo river. The two to the east are Beheta and Sada; the three to the west are Ambatomainty, Andrafiafaly, and Betainalika.