Classification: Introduced Species - While the Greek Tortoise has been seen and identified in Texas, New Yrok, North Carolina, and California at this time there are no records of any breeding populations in the wild. Sightings of this species are most likely of released or escaped pets that were imported for the pet trade.

Description: The Greek tortoise is often confused with Hermann's tortoise (T. hermanni). However, notable differences enable them to be distinguished. Greek tortoise characteristics are large symmetrical markings on the top of the head, large scales on the front legs, undivided carapace over the tail, notable spurs on each thigh, isolated flecks on the spine and rib plates, dark central fleck on the underside, the shell somewhat oblong rectangular, widely stretched spinal plates, movable posterior plates on undersid, and no tail spur.

Habitat: the Greek tortoise inhabits a variety of habitats, including some that are particularly arid: rocky hillsides, Mediterranean scrub, forests, fields and meadows.

Range: Introduced in Texas, North Carolina, New York, & California. The Greek tortoise's geographic range includes North Africa, Southern Europe, and Southwest Asia. It is prevalent in the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus (from Anapa, Russia, to Sukhumi, Abkhazia, Georgia, to the south), as well as in other regions of Georgia, Armenia, Iran, and Azerbaijan.

Found in these States: NC | TX

Diet: Greek tortoises are herbivores

Reproduction: In T. graeca, immediately after waking from hibernation, the mating instinct starts up. The males follow the females with great interest, encircling them, biting them in the limbs, ramming them, and trying to mount them. During copulation, the male opens his mouth, showing his red tongue and making squeaking sounds.

During mating, the female stands still, bracing herself with her front legs, moving the front part of her body to the left and right in the same rhythm as the male's cries. One successful mating will allow the female to lay eggs multiple times. When breeding in captivity, the pairs of females and males must be kept separate. If multiple males are in a pen, one takes on a dominant role and will try to mate with the other males in the pen. If more males than females are in a pen, the males might kill each other to mate with the females.

One or two weeks before egg laying, the animals become notably agitated, moving around to smell and dig in the soil, even tasting it, before choosing the ideal spot to lay the eggs. One or two days before egg laying, the female takes on an aggressive, dominant behavior, mounting another animal as for copulation and making the same squeaking sound the male produces during copulation. The purpose of this behavior is to produce respect in the tortoise community so that the female will not be disturbed by the others during egg laying.

Status: Testudo graeca has most recently been assessed for The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 1996. Testudo graeca is listed as Vulnerable under criteria A1cd.

Subspecies: 12 but it is not known which of the subspecies have been introduced into the United States.
   Armenian Tortoise - (Testudo graeca armeniaca)
   Buxton's Tortoise - (Testudo graeca buxtoni)
   Libyan Tortoise - (Testudo graeca cyrenaica)
   Moorish Tortoise - (Testudo graeca graeca)
   Asia Minor Tortoise - (Testudo graeca ibera)
   Morocco Tortoise - (Testudo graeca marokkensis)
   Nabeul Tortoise - (Testudo graeca nabeulensis)
   Zagros Mountain Tortoise - (Testudo graeca perses)
   Souss Valley Tortoise - (Testudo graeca soussensis)
   Mesopotamian Tortoise - (Testudo graeca terrestris)
   Un-named Subspecies- (Testudo graeca whitei)
   Iranian Tortoise - (Testudo graeca zarudnyi)

Taxonomy: