AnimalsThe Indian star tortoise has a high domed shell marked with yellow star patterns. The pattern breaks up its outline in dry grass. It is protected by law in India, and keeping or trading it is illegal.
Quick facts
- Scientific name
- Geochelone elegans
- Group
- Reptiles
- Diet
- Herbivore (eats plants)
- Lives in
- India and Sri Lanka
- Habitat
- Dry scrub and grassland
- A young one is called
- hatchling
- A group is called
- no special name
- Conservation status
- Vulnerable
How it is classified
Scientists sort living things into groups within groups. Reading down, each step is a smaller group, ending with the species itself.
- Kingdom Animalia
- Phylum Chordata
- Class Reptilia
- Order Testudines
- Family Testudinidae
- Genus Geochelone
- Species Geochelone elegans
More distant relatives in the order Testudines: green sea turtle, olive ridley sea turtle.
Classification follows the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Other reference works arrange some groups differently. How classification works.
Is it in danger?
The Indian star tortoise is listed as Vulnerable. The species faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.
This is the IUCN Red List category as recorded in Wikidata on 11 November 2026. The IUCN Red List itself is the authority and may carry a newer assessment. What the categories mean.