top of page

Species Card Details

Psammobates tentorius verroxii

Bushmanland tent tortoise

Species Card Photograph

Group:

Reptile

Size:

Maximum 15cm

Distribution:

Bushmanland and Upper Karoo in South Africa, and southern Namibia.

PromethION Sequencing Report:

Output:

97.28 Gigabases

Approximate N50:

7.68 kilobases

Assembly N50:

2 312.32 kilobases

Contig number:

10 395

Draft Genome Assembly Statistics:

Assembler used:

TBA

Genome Length:

2.24 Gigabases

BUSCO completeness score (single and duplicated genes):

99.6% [S: 97.6%, D: 2%]

BUSCO database:

TBA

Importance:

The Bushmanland tent tortoise, an important seed disperser for various plant species and endemic to South Africa and Namibia, is arguably one of the most taxonomically confusing and morphologically polymorphic species of Testudines. It is listed as "Near Threatened" by the IUCN and occurs in the Upper Karoo, Bushmanland regions of South Africa, and southern Namibia. It only occurs in the Nama Karoo Biome. Remarkably, no genomic studies have been conducted on any tortoise species in Africa or across the entire Southern Hemisphere.

Sample Contributor contact details:

Dr Zhongning Zhao
University of the Free State

Date Published:

2025-07-17

Photo credit:

© Zhongning Zhao

Fauna

bottom of page