Elongated tortoise

Description

Elongated tortoise (Indotestudo elongata) is a species of tortoise found in Southeast Asia and parts of South Asia.Shell considerably depressed,more than twice as long as deep,with flat vertebral region;anterior and posterior margins slightly reverted,strongly serrated in young,feebly in old specimens;shields concentrically striated,except in old specimens;nuchal present (rarely absent),narrow and elongate;supracaudal undivided,more or less incurved;first vertebral usually nearly as long as broad in the adult,the others broader than long and nearly as broad as the costals.Plastron large,truncate anteriorly,deeply notched posteriorly;suture between the pectoral shields as long as or longer than that between the humerals;suture between the gulars as long as or a little shorter than that between the pectorals;anals forming a very short suture,or entirely separated by the anal notch;axillary and inguinal moderate.Head moderate;a pair of large praefrontal shields,usually followed by a nearly equally large frontal;beak feebly hooked,tricuspid;alveolar ridge of upper jaw short and rather feeble.Anterior face of fore limbs with moderate,unequal-sized,imbricate scales,which are largest towards the outer side;no enlarged tubercles on the thighs;tail ending in a claw-like horny tubercle.Carapace and plastron greenish yellow,each shield with an irregular black spot or blotch,which may occupy its greater portion,or may be much broken up or indistinc