The oldest evidence of Testudo graeca (Testudinidae) in the Iberian Peninsula

Abstract

The Testudo graeca (i.e., Greek Tortoise or Spur-thighed Tortoise) origin in Western Europe is a subject of debate within the scientific community. The species is a part of the current Spanish biodiversity, with three isolated populations, located in the south-eastern (Almeria and Murcia) and south-western (Doñana National Park, Andalusia) areas of the Iberian Peninsula, and in the Mallorca Island (Balearic Islands). Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, putative references to the presence of Testudo graeca in the Iberian paleontological and archaeozoological records were relatively common. However, many of them were refuted in subsequent papers and, those that were not, are currently considered as doubtful. The aim of this work is to present and describe the oldest indisputable remains of Testudo graeca in the Iberian Peninsula. They correspond to several individuals, hitherto unpublished, recovered as grave goods in two tombs at the Plaza Marqués de Busianos 5 site (Valencia, eastern Spain), dated between the first and second centuries AD.

New findings on the evolution of turtles: A symposium in honor of Marcelo S. de la Fuente

“…New occurrences of testudinids and geoemydids from the Miocene–Pleistocene of Northern Greece (Saltsidou et al, 2023) are reported, from one of the most diverse turtle fossil localities in Greece where three species are recognized including the oldest record of Chersine hermanni in Europe. Studies on Iberian paleontological and archaeozoological records reveal the oldest occurrences of Testudo graeca from the Iberian Peninsula (Boneta Jiménez et al, 2023). The fossil record of tortoises is modeled to provide insight into extinction and speciation rates (Oliveira Silveira et al, 2023).…”