Testudo actinodes Bell, 1828 : p. 419

Nowak-Kemp, Małgosia & Fritz, Uwe, 2010, Chelonian type specimens at the Oxford University Museum, Zootaxa 2604 (1), pp. 1-19 : 16

Testudo actinodes Bell, 1828: p. 419 , plate XXIII

Current name: Geochelone elegans (Schoepff, 1795)

Syntypes (5 specimens): OUM 8555 ( Bell Collection , Catalogue of Testudinata No. 7a; whole, stuffed specimen, SCL 15.5 cm, bears small label with number “20”) ; OUM 8556 ( Bell Collection , Catalogue of Testudinata No. 7b; shell, SCL 21.5 cm, bears small label with number “25”) ; OUM 8558 ( Bell Collection , Catalogue of Testudinata No. 7c; shell, SCL 15.8 cm, bears small label with number “19”) ; OUM 8559 ( Bell Collection , Catalogue of Testudinata No. 7d; shell, SCL 14.0 cm, bears small label with number “22”) ; OUM 8560 ( Bell Collection , Catalogue of Testudinata No. 7e; shell, SCL 9.5 cm, bears small label with illegible number) .

Remarks: It is unclear how many specimens were used by Bell (1828) for the original description of his Testudo actinodes . In his Monograph of the Testudinata, Bell (1832–1836) writes under this species: “ I have had several individuals of this species living, but have not succeeded in keeping them alive over the winter, notwithstanding they had fed freely during the warm weather.” OUM 8556 agrees with the dimensions of the shell provided by Bell (1828: p. 419). However, none of the OUM specimens is to be identified with the figured tortoise of Bell (1828: plate XXIII), so that some further syntypes may have been lost or given to other collections.