The Russian tortoise, also commonly known as the Afghan tortoise, the Central Asian tortoise, the four-clawed tortoise, the four-toed tortoise, Horsfield's tortoise, the Russian steppe tortoise, the Soviet Tortoise, and the steppe tortoise, is a threatened species of tortoise in the family Testudinidae. The species is endemic to Central Asia from the Caspian Sea south through Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan, and east across Kazakhstan to Xinjiang, China. Human activities in its native habitat contribute to its threatened status.
Russian tortoise
A Russian tortoise at the Milwaukee Public Museum
Tortoises are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines. Like other turtles, tortoises have a shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, and like other members of the suborder Cryptodira, they retract their necks and heads directly backward into the shell to protect them.
Tortoise
Tile with two rabbits, two snakes, and a tortoise, illustration for Zakariya al-Qazwini's book ʿAjāʾib al-makhlūqāt, Iran, 19th century.
Tortoise in art a traditional lock at Swayambhunath, Kathmandu
Adult male leopard tortoise, South Africa