The Mediterranean turtle, Testudo hermanni is a species of land turtle in the family Testudinidae found in Europe. The scientific name of the species has been given in honor of the French naturalist Johann Hermann.
The geographical distribution of the species includes S. Europe, namely E. Spain, S. France, W. Italy, the Balkan Peninsula (Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia) and several Mediterranean islands (Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, Balearic Islands). The distribution of the species in Greece includes mainland Greece, the Peloponnese, Evia and the Ionian Islands.
The Mediterranean turtle is small to medium in size with a black-yellow shell (eel), although in adults the brightness of the colors may fade to a less distinct gray-yellow color. It has a slightly hooked upper jaw and like other turtles, it has no teeth. Its limbs are grayish to brown and its tail bears a tubercle at its tip. Adult males have particularly long and thick tails and well-developed tubercles, which distinguish them from females.
Similar in color to the Greek tortoise (Testudo graeca), the Mediterranean tortoise differs in a number of traits. It has a double supracaudal plate, a horny process at the end of the tail, and characteristic appendages between the thighs and the tail. The carapace shows a strong curvature in the upper part, while the lower part is almost flat in females and convex in males, which facilitates mating.
The length of the carapace in a straight line reaches up to 20 cm. Females are larger than males. It is the smallest species of land turtle, compared to the rest of the European species. The loggerhead turtle (Testudo marginata) can reach twice that length, while the shell of the Greek tortoise (Testudo graeca) can exceed 25 cm.
The Mediterranean turtle uses a wide variety of habitats, from sea level to mountainous areas. It prefers meadows and sparse bushes, but it also occurs, with large densities, in oak forests. In contrast, it is rarer in dense coniferous forests and wet beech forests where it is usually restricted to forest edges or openings. It occurs at higher altitudes than the rest of the turtle species and can be found up to 1,500 meters. It is active during the day and its diet is mainly based on herbaceous plants. Occasionally, it also consumes invertebrates or corpses. Before mating, the male usually bites the legs of the female, and the mating process can last up to 2 hours. Females lay, often twice, from 3 to 12 eggs. The young hatch after 2 to 3 months and are no more than 4 cm long. At this age it is very difficult to distinguish them from other species of turtles. Males usually reach adulthood after the eighth year and females after the eleventh.
Although it is a species familiar to the inhabitants of the southern Balkans, it seems to be facing serious threats now. In the long term, the destruction of its habitats is the biggest risk and has already led to the decline of several populations. In Greece, illegal collection for conservation in captivity, as well as fires are the main causes of its population decline. The Mediterranean turtle is protected by national legislation. It is also included in Annex II of the Berne Convention and Annex II of Directive 92/43/EEC.