Greek tortoise
Testudo graeca Linnaeus, 1758
VUVulnerableturtles and tortoises
The greek tortoise (Testudo graeca) is a reptile in the turtles and tortoises subgroup, belonging to the family Testudinidae and the order Testudines. It is a medium-sized species, with an adult body mass of 1.43 kg, and our sources report a lifespan of 127 years.
Quick facts about the greek tortoise
It reaches sexual maturity at 12.5 years, lays clutches of 5 eggs at a rate of 3.2 clutches per year, and its eggs incubate for 78 days. The IUCN Red List classifies the greek tortoise as Vulnerable (VU) in its global assessment, an IUCN threatened category.
- Weight
- 1.43 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- up to 18.5 cmsrc for Length
- Lifespan
- 127 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Egg incubation
- 78 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 4 – 21src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 12 years – 12.6 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1 – 3.2src for Litters or clutches a year
- Reproduction
- Eggssrc for Reproduction
- Active
- By day (diurnal)src for Active
- Conservation status
- Vulnerable (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the greek tortoise
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the greek tortoise live?
Not recorded
What is the greek tortoise?
The Greek tortoise (Testudo graeca), also known commonly as the Moorish tortoise and the spur-thighed tortoise, is a species of tortoise in the family Testudinidae. The species is a medium-sized herbivorous testudinid, widely distributed in the Mediterranean region.
T. graeca is recognized for its longevity, with verified lifespans exceeding 100 years and anecdotal reports suggesting ages over 125 years. Among reptiles, it has one of the largest known genomes.
From the Wikipedia article “Greek tortoise” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Greek_tortoise&oldid=1384934587), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the greek tortoise endangered?
The greek tortoise is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List: it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Vulnerable species. What the categories mean.
How is the greek tortoise classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classReptilia
- orderTestudines
- familyTestudinidae
- genusTestudo
- SpeciesTestudo graeca Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms Furculachelys nabeulensis, Testudo anamurensis, Testudo antakyensis, Testudo buxtoni, Testudo dagestanica, Testudo ecaudata, Testudo flavominimaralis, Testudo floweri, Testudo georgicana, Testudo graeca anamurensis, Testudo graeca nikolskii, Testudo graeca pallasi, Testudo ibera, Testudo ibera bicaudalis, Testudo ibera racovitzai, Testudo ibera var. bicaudalis, Testudo marginata whitei, Testudo mauritanica, Testudo nikolskii, Testudo pallasi, Testudo perses, Testudo terrestris, Testudo whitei, Testudo zarudnyi, Testudo zohalfa, Testudo zolkafa
Other names and names in other languages (57)
- Common tortoiseEnglish
- Common tortoiseEnglish
- Mediterranean spur-thighed tortoiseEnglish
- Moorish tortoiseEnglish
- Moorish tortoiseEnglish
- Spur-thighed tortoiseEnglish
- Spur-thighed tortoiseEnglish
- سلحفاة مغربيةArabic
- سلحفاة يونانيةArabic
- سلحفاة مهمازية الوركArabic
- tartuga griegaAsturian
- Aralıq dənizi tısbağasıAzerbaijani
- Шипобедрена костенуркаBulgarian
- Tortuga gregaCatalan
- želva žlutohnědá antakijskáCzech
- želva žlutohnědáCzech
- Maurisk landskildpaddeDanish
- Maurische LandschildkröteGerman
- Ελληνική ΧελώναGreek
- Tortuga MoraSpanish
- لاکپشت مهمیزدارPersian
- kannuskilpikonnaFinnish
- EspanjankilpikonnaFinnish
- Tortue grecqueFrench
- Tortue MauresqueFrench
- Tartaruga mouraGalician
- צב יבשה מצויHebrew
- צב-יבשה מצויHebrew
- Grčka čančaraCroatian
- Mór teknősHungarian
- Միջերկրածովյան կրիաArmenian
- Կրիա միջերկրածովայինArmenian
- Testuggine grecaItalian
- testuggine morescaItalian
- ギリシャリクガメJapanese
- ხმელთაშუაზღვეთის კუGeorgian
- 그리스거북Korean
- 그리스땅거북Korean
- 그리스육지거북Korean
- Graikinis vėžlysLithuanian
- Полска желкаMacedonian
- Moorse LandschildpadDutch
- Żółw śródziemnomorskiPolish
- یونانی کھچوپڑاWestern Panjabi
- Tartaruga-gregaPortuguese
- Țestoasă dobrogeană de uscatRomanian
- Греческая черепахаRussian
- Кавказская черепахаRussian
- Средиземноморская черепахаRussian
- Korytnačka žltohnedáSlovak
- mavrska kornjačaSlovenian
- Грчка корњачаSerbian
- Morisk landsköldpaddaSwedish
- Mahmuzlu Akdeniz KaplumbağasıTurkish
- Середземноморська черепахаUkrainian
- Черепаха середземноморськаUkrainian
- 希臘陸龜Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistITISTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the greek tortoise
Other species in the same genus Testudo.
Hermann's tortoise
Testudo hermanni
Central Asian tortoise
Testudo horsfieldii
Negev tortoise
Testudo kleinmanni
Margined tortoise
Testudo marginata
CompareGreek tortoise vs Hermann's tortoiseGreek tortoise vs Central Asian tortoiseGreek tortoise vs Negev tortoiseGreek tortoise vs Margined tortoise
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the greek tortoise?
The greek tortoise is a reptile in the turtles and tortoises subgroup, classified in the family Testudinidae, genus Testudo.
How heavy is a greek tortoise?
An adult Greek tortoise has a body mass of 1.43 kg, which places it in the medium size class (1 to 25 kg).
Is the greek tortoise endangered?
The greek tortoise is listed as Vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List, which is an IUCN threatened category.
How long does a greek tortoise live?
Our sources report a lifespan of 127 years for the greek tortoise.
How many eggs does a greek tortoise lay?
The greek tortoise lays 5 eggs per clutch, at a rate of 3.2 clutches per year, and the eggs incubate for 78 days.
When does a greek tortoise reach sexual maturity?
The greek tortoise reaches sexual maturity at 12.5 years, with reported values from 12.0 to 12.6 years.
Who named the greek tortoise?
The greek tortoise, Testudo graeca, was named by Linnaeus, 1758.
What are other names for the greek tortoise?
Other English names for the greek tortoise are common tortoise, Moorish tortoise, spur-thighed tortoise and Mediterranean spur-thighed tortoise.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles · CC BY 4.0 · v1-2
Oskyrko, O., Mi, C., Meiri, S. et al. (2024) ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles. Scientific Data 11: 243. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03079-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24572683.v4 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
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Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Greek tortoise (Testudo graeca). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/greek-tortoise
“Greek tortoise (Testudo graeca).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/greek-tortoise.
@misc{greek_tortoise_2026,
title = {Greek tortoise (Testudo graeca)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/greek-tortoise},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}