African spurred tortoise

African spurred tortoise
	At Linton Zoo
Conservation status
	; Endangered (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Testudines
Suborder:	Cryptodira
Superfamily:	Testudinoidea
Family:	Testudinidae
Genus:	Centrochelys
Species:	C. sulcata
Binomial name
	Centrochelys sulcata; (Miller, 1779)
Synonyms
	Testudo sulcata Miller, 1779; Testudo calcarata Schneider, 1784; Chersine calcarata Merrem, 1820; Geochelone (Geochelone) sulcata Fitzinger, 1835; Geochelone senegalensis Fitzinger, 1855; Peltastes sulcatus Gray, 1869; Centrochelys sulcatus Gray, 1873; Centrochelys sulcata Gerlach, 2001; Geochelone sulcata senegalensis Ballasina, Vandepitte, Mochi & Fenwick, 2006; Geochelone sulcata sudanensis Ballasina, Vandepitte, Mochi & Fenwick, 2006 (nomen nudum);

The African spurred tortoise (Centrochelys sulcata), also called the sulcata tortoise, is an endangered species of tortoise inhabiting the southern edge of the Sahara Desert, the Sahel, in Africa. It is the largest mainland species of tortoise in Africa, and the third-largest in the world, after the Galapagos tortoise and Aldabra giant tortoise. It is the only living species in its genus, Centrochelys, with the five other species in the family already extinct.

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