Testudo horsfieldii Gray, 1844

Jablonski, Daniel, Khalili, Faizurrahman & Masroor, Rafaqat, 2023, The herpetofaunal diversity of Takhar Province, Afghanistan, Herpetozoa 36, pp. 73-90 : 73

Testudo horsfieldii Gray, 1844

Figs 3 , 5A, B

Takhar records.

Bay Yawa (Khagebilendi), 37.4058°N, 69.6853°E, 1124 m a.s.l., 2, 4, 12, 21 and 22 April 2020, grassy habitat, tens of individuals from juveniles to adults of both sexes (CUHC-PA 179); Taleqan (Takhar University Campus), 36.7405°N, 69.4803°E, 792 m a.s.l., 5 May 2020, grassy habitat, tens of individuals from juveniles to adults of both sexes (CUHC-PA 178); Taleqan (Khitayan), 36.6638°N, 69.6580°E, 980 m a.s.l., 13 May 2020; grassy habitat, tens of individuals from juveniles to adults of both sexes (CUHC-PA 181); Tangi Farkhar, 36.6353°N, 69.7264°E, 1039 m a.s.l., 13 May 2020, grassy habitat, tens of individuals from juveniles to adults of both sexes (CUHC-PA 182); Taleqan (Pusthhur), 36.7492°N, 69.5869°E, 814 m a.s.l., 18 May 2020, grassy habitat, tens of individuals from juveniles to adults of both sexes (CUHC-PA 180).

Distribution in Afghanistan.

Badghis, Baghlan, Balkh, Farah, Ghazni, Herat, Jowzjan, Kabul, Kunduz, Nimroz, Paktika and Zabul Provinces ( Wagner et al. 2016; Jablonski et al. 2019b, 2021e), representing 35% of all provinces.

Chorotype.

Turanian.

Remarks.

We provide the first record of T. horsfieldii for Takhar Province. These are currently the easternmost records of the species in Afghanistan. The geographically closest records are from Kunduz Province, ca. 30 km by air distance westwards ( Jablonski et al. 2021e).

Figures

Figure 3. Herpetofaunistic records of Bufonidae, Ranidae, Testudinidae and Agamidae from Takhar Province in the context of updated records from Afghanistan (white dots or squares: published data (except for the data on Bufotes oblongus and B. zugmayeri, which are distributed in SW Afghanistan); red dots: new data).

Figure 5. A, B. Individuals of Testudo horsfieldii from Bay Yawa (Khagebilendi) of different sex and ages (CUHC-PA 179); C. Adult male of Paralaudakia badakhshana from Khilyazi bala (CUHC-PA 212); D, E. Ventral and dorsal view on the individual of P. badakhshana from Khilyazi bala (CUHC-PA 213); F. Individual of Paralaudakia sp. from Khilyazi bala (CUHC-PA 214); G, H. Adult males (CUHC-PA 216 and 217) of Paralaudakia lehmanni from Khilyazi bala; I. Subadult individual of P. lehmanni from Bay Yawa (CUHC-PA 222).