About Homopus femoralis Boulenger, 1888
Homopus femoralis, commonly known as the greater padloper, is the largest species in the Homopus (padloper) genus of tortoises, but it remains a very small species overall. Adults average slightly over 10 cm in length, and males are typically smaller than females. This species has relatively large buttock tubercles. Like its close relative H. areolatus, and unlike other padloper species, it has four toes on both its front and hind feet. The species' shell ranges in color from olive to reddish-brown, and is slightly flattened in both sexes. The shell shields are usually separated by very thin white lines. In juveniles and adult males, the shell shields typically have slightly darker edges. Aside from smaller size, males can be told apart from females by their longer tails, and males do not have a plastral concavity. The greater padloper is sometimes confused with the Karoo padloper (H. boulengeri), which lives in the Karoo region to the west of the greater padloper's range. The greater padloper can be distinguished from this species by its larger overall size, nostrils positioned below eye level, four toes on both front and hind feet, larger scales on the forelimbs, and the darker rings around the shell scutes that are present in many individuals. The greater padloper is native to the highveld plateau of southern Africa, where it primarily inhabits summer-rainfall grasslands, savanna, and bushveld. Its range extends north to the central Free State and east to the Lesotho border, and it is restricted to high altitude regions that receive over 250 mm of rainfall per year. A sparse relict population of greater padlopers also extends into the high escarpment on the edge of the Karoo, where the climate is relatively humid. Although this species has sometimes been called the Karoo cape tortoise, it is not widespread in the Karoo, unlike the Karoo padloper which is restricted to that region. As a species adapted to summer-rainfall areas, the greater padloper tends to favor rocky outcrops within its range, and its overall population is relatively sparse. The species has been little studied, but it is included in datasets like ITIS and other biological databases.
