The Home's hinge-back tortoise is a small African turtle with a special movable hinge on its shell. This hinge allows it to close off the rear part of its body for protection from predators.
The Home's hinge-back tortoise differs from other turtles with its movable hinge on the rear part of the shell. It is important for nature because it disperses plant seeds and helps control insect populations in the forest.
Immature form that undergoes metamorphosis before adulthood.
pecking
Worker
Tail size
birth time
Picking small food items from foliage, ground, or other surfaces.
Dogs, dolphins, lynx hang out for 9-25 years and party on their birthday three times a year
m
Map
will celebrate their {n} birthday
g
t
When your next jubilee falls in {name} life years
Human
hot Africa south of the desert, many savannas and forests
very hot and very humid all year round, rain almost every day
days
worms
How old you would be if you lived as {name}
Theoretical maximum lifespan estimated from the Dynamic Energy Budget (DEB) mathematical model. This value reflects a biological potential derived from metabolic parameters, not from direct observation — real recorded lifespans are often significantly shorter.
mollusks
beak
adult
Maturity
plant
fungi
South and Central America, hot and humid, huge forests
Coconut
insects
About health
When your next birthday would fall if you lived as {name}
Repro interval
results
Colors
Sex
Upcoming jubilees
Gremllins
mo
hot, rains in summer, little precipitation in winter
little precipitation in winter, more in summer
Trophic type
Filters
Captures or processes food by biting or nipping with the mouth.
always hot and humid, huge trees and vines
Upcoming birthdays
Truly long lives: 40-100 years. Bowhead whales, albatrosses, giant tortoises recall their birthday at most once a year
Lifespan
leaf
Age (from birth to death)
Hot, little precipitation in winter
Wanderers
Food items are collected from exposed outer surfaces of substrates.
Jubilee = every 10th birthday
Earliest developmental stage inside an egg or womb.
Business sausages
fruits
Lifespan average
leaves
Carapace color
What do they look like?
Maturity
emergence (insects)
end of lifespan
hot, there is a dry season, trees shed their leaves
How do they live?
fertilization / egg laying
mycophagy, feed on fungi
How do they behave?
birth / hatching
metamorphosis / end of larval stage
end of acceleration
Share
live snails, mussels, oysters
Find a pet...
Mature, fully developed individual capable of reproduction.
hot, uneven rains, lots of grass and trees
gleaning
Actively hunting and capturing live prey.
from 0.5 to 0.8 kilograms, 0.5 – 1 meter
Hinged carapace size
Pets
Repeatedly strikes or probes substrate with beak to obtain food.
biting
Tropical dry broadleaf forest
Feeding occurs primarily on land or in vegetation.
{name} jubilee
cm
Old-timers
Find an animal or breed...
turns
Rascals
terrestrial forest
hot Africa south of the desert, many savannas and forests
Litter size
Tropical savanna
Map data sources: Ecosystem classification — IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology (Keith et al., 2022), indicative distribution maps Keith et al. (2020), https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3546513; Large Marine Ecosystems — NOAA LME Program; Bathymetry — GEBCO Bathymetric Compilation Group (2026), GEBCO_2026 Grid, https://doi.org/10.5285/4f68d5c7-45eb-f999-e063-7086abc036fa; Climate data — Generated using Copernicus Climate Change Service information; Species occurrence data — GBIF.org, Derived dataset "all animals", https://zveriki.com/dataset/dataset.tsv; Terrestrial ecoregions — RESOLVE Ecoregions 2017 (Dinerstein et al., 2017), CC BY 4.0
How to care for them?
Living from 25 to 40 years. Orangutans, bald eagles, African elephants celebrate their birthday twice a year
grazing
°C
Not specified
Actively searching habitats to locate food items.
Where are they found?
Species lacks any fixed or lasting shelter structure.
Feeds by cropping or nibbling low-growing vegetation or algae.
Low precipitation in winter
Legendary longevity: over 100 years. Galapagos tortoises, Greenland sharks, ocean quahogs celebrate with family once every 4 years
Offspring
Tropical moist forest
Elders
Bro
Taxons
seeds, berries, fruits
if born as {name}
omnivore
age
birth date
no permanent shelter
Close
Egg shell color
was
Career from 7 to 15 months. Dwarf hamsters, voles, field crickets celebrate their birthday twice a month
The basics
Neotropical realm
climbing
collects and bites off food with its beak
My weight?
Non-stop carnival: they only live a few days. Mayflies, rotifers, midges celebrate their birthday more than twice a day
surface
primary food sources
teeth
Potential Habitat
d
In husbandry
On the go from 1.3 to 3.5 years. Forest mice, anoles, rainbow fish party on their birthday once a month
Mass
Plastron color
young shoots and leaves of plants
Mosquitoes, fruit flies, small crustaceans hustle for up to 7 months and throw a birthday party every week
terrestrial
{name} birthday
live annelid worms
Food is gathered directly from leaf surfaces.
Always hot
No results found
On the map
forest
all life stages
Female ♀
world of Afrotropics
Map data sources: Ecosystem classification — IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology (Keith et al., 2022), indicative distribution maps Keith et al. (2020), https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3546513; Large Marine Ecosystems — NOAA LME Program; Bathymetry — GEBCO Bathymetric Compilation Group (2026), GEBCO_2026 Grid, https://doi.org/10.5285/4f68d5c7-45eb-f999-e063-7086abc036fa; Climate data — Generated using Copernicus Climate Change Service information; Species occurrence data — GBIF.org, Derived dataset "all animals", https://zveriki.com/dataset/dataset.tsv; Terrestrial ecoregions — RESOLVE Ecoregions 2017 (Dinerstein et al., 2017), CC BY 4.0
Potential habitat modelled from GBIF occurrence data. Map © Zveriki.com, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Hinged carapace color
birth year
Maturity
terrestrial habitat, land surface outside water
sq mm
yr
Beak color
How similar?
Male ♂
until the celebration
age as {name}
How do they breed?
On the go from 3.5 to 6 years. Hedgehogs, crows, lizards treat themselves to birthday snacks 6 times a year
Legs color
What if eaten?
Neither
Moving up vertical surfaces like trunks or rocks to reach food.
What do they eat?
Where do they live?
Hinged carapace count
early young
Hard dental structures used to bite, tear, or scrape food.
forests on land — tropical, temperate, boreal
world of Afrotropics
Duration
live insects
Always hot and wet
This is me
Gamers
How are they built?
mm
Theoretical lifespan
ml
Stars
Link copied
My age?
wk
My size?
terrestrial
Carapace count
Asexual
swap
active predation
Rabbits, falcons, red-eared turtles hang out for 6-9 years and party on their birthday four times a year
Where do they take shelter?
Head color
celebrated their {n} birthday
When you would have been born if you lived as {name}
very hot all year round, frequent rains, but sometimes dry
Daddies
Lifespan maximum
foraging
Hermaphrodite ⚥
embryo
Hard, projecting mouthpart used to probe, pluck, or crack food.
Length
kg
Observations
◉{N} more on tap