Texas Tortoise - Gopherus berlandieri

This species is one of the three tortoise species native to the United States. It ranges from Texas into Mexico. This tortoise can reach up to 22 cm in length and is found in open scrub woods with sandy, well drained soils. These tortoises don't make extensive burrows, however they do use their extended gular scutes and forelimbs to create a resting place called a pallet under a bush or on the edge of a cactus clump. This specimen died in captivity.

Carapace

Plastron