The beaked cape tortoise or parrot-beaked padloper (Homopus areolatus) is a tiny species of tortoise

Tortoise

Tortoises are a family of land-dwelling reptiles of the order of turtles . Like their marine cousins, the sea turtles, tortoises are shielded from predators by a shell. The top part of the shell is the carapace, the underside is the plastron, and the two are connected by the bridge. The tortoise...

 of the Homopus

Homopus

Homopus is a genus of tiny tortoises in the Testudinidae family. As a group, they are commonly known as "Cape tortoises" or "padlopers" , and include the smallest tortoises in the world....

genus.

It is endemic to the Republic of South Africa and is found specifically in the Western Cape

Western Cape

The Western Cape is a province in the south west of South Africa. The capital is Cape Town. Prior to 1994, the region that now forms the Western Cape was part of the much larger Cape Province...

 Province. Like its larger relative, the Karoo cape tortoise

Karoo Cape Tortoise

The Karoo cape tortoise or Karoo padloper is a tiny tortoise of the Homopus genus, endemic to the Karoo region of South Africa....

, it has only four toes on its front feet. It has a sharp, distinctly hooked beak and the noses of the males become bright orange or red in the breeding season.

Due to its tiny size, this tortoise is heavily preyed on by crows, jackals, dogs and a wide range of other predators. Consequently, it spends most of its time hiding under rocks, foliage and other cover.
It is threatened by traffic on roads, overgrazing, introduced species and poaching for the pet trade (Homopus species do not generally survive well in captivity).

Additional reading

Chelonia.org

• Baard, E.H.W. 1996. Inter- and Intra-Individual Variation in the measurement of southern Padloper Homopus areolatus Afr. Herp News (25): 22-25
• Bour,R. 1980. Essai sur la taxinomie des Testudinidae actuels (Reptilia, Chelonii). Bull. Mus. natl. Hist. nat. Paris (4) 2 (2): 541-546
• Duméril, A. M.C., G. BIBRON & A. DUMÉRIL 1854. Erpétologie générale ou Histoire Naturelle complète des Reptiles. Vol. 9. Paris, XX + 440 S.
• Ernst, C.H. and Barbour,R.W. 1989. Turtles of the World. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C. - London
• Fleck, J. & Fleck, S. 2001. Erfolgreiche Nachzucht von Chersina angulata und Homopus areolatus über mehrere Jahre. Elaphe 9 (3): 5-14
• Fritz, Uwe and Olaf R.P. Bininda-Emonds 2007. When genes meet nomenclature: Tortoise phylogeny and the shifting generic concepts of Testudo and Geochelone. Zoology 110 (4): 298-307 [erratum in vol. 111 (1): 84]
• Gorseman, P. 1980. Opmerkingen over biotoop en voortplanting van Homopus areolatus. Lacerta 38 (10-11): 107-111
• Greig, J.C., and P.D. Burdett. 1976. Patterns in the distributions of Southern African terrestrial tortoises (Cryptodira: Testudinidae). Zool. Africana 11(2): 250-267.
• Hoogmoed, M.S. 1980. Herpetologische waarnemingen in Ghana [part 8]. Lacerta 38 (10-11): 112-116
• Lacepède, B. G. E. 1788. Histoire Naturelle des Quadrupe des Ovipares et des Serpens. Vol.1. Imprimerie du Roi, Hôtel de Thou, Paris, xvii + 651 pp.
• Loveridge, Arthur & Williams, Ernest E. 1957. Revision of the African Tortoises and Turtles of the Suborder Cryptodira. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 115 (6): 163-557
• Schleicher, A. 2005. Die Areolen-Flachschildkröte, Homopus areolatus (THUNBERG 1787). Beobachtungen und Erfahrungen: Lebensweise, Haltung, Nach- und Aufzucht. Reptilia (Münster) 10 (6): 36-40
• Schleicher, A. 2005. Homopus areolatus - The Parrot-Beaked Tortoise. Reptilia (GB) (43): 26-30
• Thunberg, C. P. 1787. Beskrifning pé Trenne Skölpaddor [Description of two new turtles] Kongl. Vetenskaps Academiens Nya Handlingar, För M_naderne 1787 (Julius, Augustus, September): 178-180
• Hughes, B. 1986. Longevity Records of African Captive Amphibians and Reptiles: Part 1: Introduction and Species List 1 - Amphibians and Chelonians Jour. Herp. Ass. Afr. (32): 1-5