In 1913, Annandale, the superintendent of the Indian Museum, named Testudo [= Indotestudo] parallelus from 
Chaibassa, Chota Nagpur. The specific name alludes to the parallel sides of the shell; other characters noted by 
Annandale included gular, pectoral and humeral proportions. However, Annandale admitted that he was unable to 
obtain additional specimens besides the holotype. Testudo parallelus has been considered a synonym of I. elongata. 
During the same year that the British Museum shifted its collections to methyl alcohol and abandoned wine 
spirits, George Boulenger continued his described two species of tortoises: Testudo buxtoni [= T. graeca ibera] 
(1920a) and Testudo loveridgii [= Malacochersus tornieri] (1920b). Testudo buxtoni was distinguished from what 
Boulenger considered its closest relatives (T. graeca ibera and T. graeca zarudnyi) by narrower pectoral scutes and a 
divided supracaudal scute; however, both the features are extremely variable in Testudo graeca. Testudo loveridgii 
was based on a series of six individuals; these individuals had divided supracaudal scutes. Arthur Loveridge (1923) 
reported on a collection of East African reptiles described and recognized Testudo procterae, differentiated from 
Boulenger's Testudo loveridgii by its narrower, less flattened shell and its isolated distribution. Mertens et al. (1934) 
and Mertens and Wermuth (1955) recognized T. procterae as a distinct species and T. loveridgii a junior synonym of 
M. tornieri. Both species were declared synonyms of M. tornieri by Loveridge and Williams (1957). 
In 1929, Lindholm published a classification of turtles without supporting data. Therein, he recognized five 
genera (Testudo, Kinixys, Homopus, Pyxis and Acinixys) of tortoises and delineated four new subgenera of Testudo 
(Pampatestudo [= Chelonoidis}, Indotestudo, Malacochersus and Goniochersus [= Chersina]). DeSola (1930) named a 
Galapagos species, Testudo [= Geochelone] vandenburghi, based on Van Denburgh's description (1914). 
In the early 1930's, John Hewitt described over a dozen new species and subspecies of tortoises, as well as 
three new genera. Loveridge and Williams (1957) considered most of Hewitt's names to be junior synonyms of other 
older names. For example, Pseudomopus and Neotestudo were described in 1931 by Hewitt. Pseudomopus was 
distinguished from Homopus by its small inguinal scute and five toes of the manus. Neotestudo was proposed for 
Chersina angulata, in order to remove this unique species from Testudo, at that time a large polyphyletic taxon. 
Hewitt (1931) also named two new subspecies of Kinixys belliana and three new species of Kinixys, all synonyms 
of Kinixys belliana. In 1933, Hewitt named nine new subspecies of Chersinella [= Psammobates] tentorius. Eight 
of these subspecies are junior synonyms of Psammobates tentorius tentorius, fide Loveridge and Williams (1957). 
Hewitt (1933) proposed Megachersine [= Geochelone] for the species Geochelone pardalis and Geochelone elegans 
and Chersinella for the geometrica group of Testudo. Hewitts' generic descriptions relied on head scale variation. 
His new subspecies were based largely on small samples and used variable shell color and scale patterns. 
During his tenure as a Guggenheim Fellow, Loveridge collected a large number of reptiles and amphibians 
from East Africa for the Museum of Comparative Zoology collections at Harvard University. His collection 
contained fourteen new taxa, including a new race of Geochelone pardalis. In 1935, Loveridge distinguished this race 
from the nominate form by its proportionally more vaulted shell and named it Testudo [= Geochelone] pardalis 
babcocki. Grieg and Burdett (1976) suggested that the characters that distinguish the two subspecies of G. pardalis 
vary too much to warrant subspecific recognition. 
In a book on the fauna of Palestine, Friederich Bodenheimer described Testudo floweri [= T. graeca terrestris]. 
His single sentence description, one of the shortest of the 20th century, is nevertheless sufficient: "The tiny variety 
found in the Negeb ..." (Bodenheimer, 1935). Hewitt described Kinixys natalensis in 1935 and noted that the 
supracaudal scute is sometimes split. Loveridge and Williams (1957) considered K. natalensis a junior synonym of 
K. b. belliana. Broadley (1982) resurrected K. natalensis on the basis of pectoral scute proportions and a divided 
suprapygal. 
1950-Present 
In his cervical vertebrae article Williams (1950a) suggested Bellemys as a substitute name for Pyxis. A 
subsequent decision of the ICZN (Direction #32 of 1956) reversed Williams recommendation and Pyxis has been 
retained. Heinz Wermuth, two years later (1952), named a new subspecies, Testudo hermanni robertmertensi ina 
teview of T. hermanni from southern Europe. He distinguished this new subspecies on the basis of color pattern, 
particularly of the plastron, and overall shell proportions. 
