Shell of a Spur Thighed Tortoise 'Testudo Graeca Zarudnyi' (1800 to 1900 Iran)

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Shell

This large Iranian tortoise is distinguished by a more elongated carapace of which the hindmargin is serrated, and by its dark ground colour. Interestingly the four types of Testudo Graeca did not receive their specific name from any reference to Greece, but rather from the appearance of the scutes of the carapace, which struck Linnaeus as looking like a Greek mosaic. A tortoise of this sort was brought to London and presented to Archbishop Laud in 1633. It survived to at least 1730 and possibly 1753. Its remains are still preserved at Lambeth Palace.

A Large and Unusual Shell of a Spur Thighed Tortoise 'Testudo Graeca Zarudnyi' From Iran
19th Century

Size: 44cm long, 19cm high, 29cm wide – 17¼ ins long, 7½ ins high, 11½ ins wide