Testudo horsfieldii horsfieldii Gray, 1844:7

Wagner, Philipp, Bauer, Aaron M., Leviton, Alan E., Wilms, Thomas M. & Böhme, Wolfgang, 2016, A Checklist of the Amphibians and Reptiles of Afghanistan *, Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 63 (13), pp. 457-565 : 518-519

Testudo horsfieldii horsfieldii Gray, 1844:7

1844 Testudo horsfieldii Gray , Catalogue of Tortoises, Crocodilians, and Amphisbaenians in the Collection of the British Museum. Trustees of the British Museum, London, United Kingdom. viii + 80 pp.

HOLOTYPE.— BMNH 1947.3.4. 3 from “ Kabul,” Afghanistan.

SYNONYMS.— Homopus burnesii Blyth, 1854 from “ Afghanistan ” (holotype ZSI 793 fide Das et al. 1998). Testudo baluchiorum Annandale, 1906 from “Baluchistan” (holotype ZSI 11420 fide Das et al. 1998).

LOCALITIES.— 24 km SW of Aqcha ( CAS 120708); 25 km SW of Aqcha ( CAS 120707); Ghazni ( MZLU L957/3075); 10 mi. SE Chakansur (CU 11324); Kabul ( NMW 10563, inventoried as T. horsfieldii sspec. baluchiorum ); N edge of village of Kara Bagh ( CAS 90799–800); Kunduz [Kataghan Prov.] ( AFG 13–14); Mazar-i-Sharif ( PWC 46); 65–75 km W of Mazar-i-Sharif ( CAS 120706); Pagham ( FMNH 161207); Seistan [Faizabad Prov.] ( ZMUC R-2563) [see pl. 14, fig. 7 for distribution].

REMARKS.— Boulenger (1889: 94) mentioned 12 specimens as “ Testudo horsfieldii ” from “Gulran, Badghis ”. Jakeš (1964, in litt. Král 1968) observed this species frequently in the valleys of Wadi-i-Ali Gul ( Maimana Prov. ) and Wadi-i-Namak Shor (Herat Prov.). Sayer and Zon (1981: 88) also mention one specimen from “Loami”. There is also a series of specimens from Afghanistan without further locality in the FLMNH collections ( FLMNH 15522 , FLMNH 25780–90 , FLMNH 48758 ) .