Chelonoidis denticulatus
Silhouette: Andrew A. Farke · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
The yellow-footed tortoise (Chelonoidis denticulatus), also known as the Brazilian giant tortoise, is a species of tortoise in the family Testudinidae and is closely related to the red-footed tortoise (C. carbonarius). It is found in the Amazon Basin of South America. The species name has often been misspelled as denticulata, an error introduced in the 1980s when Chelonoidis was elevated to genus and mistakenly treated as feminine, an error recognized and fixed in 2017.
With an average length of 40 cm (15.75 in) and the largest known specimen at 94 cm (37 in), this is the sixth-largest tortoise species on Earth, after the Galapagos tortoise, the Aldabra tortoise, the African spurred tortoise (Geochelone sulcata, typical size 76 cm (30 in)), the leopard tortoise (Stigmochelys pardalis), and the Asian forest tortoise (Manouria emys), typical size 60 cm (23.6 in)).
The yellow-footed tortoise is also called the yellow-foot or yellow-legged tortoise, the Brazilian giant tortoise, or South American forest tortoise, as well as local names such as jabuti-tinga, jabuti, morrocoy, woyamou or wayamo, or some variation of jabuta. Many of the local names are shared with the similar... Wikipedia →
Recording0:07
Brazil · 2024
© Franciele Cristina · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yasuní National Park | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 2 | Tambopata National Reserve | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 3 | Manu National Park | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 4 | Tijuca National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
No species of the same family or order lives in Manu National Park, so these are its closest relatives here: other reptiles.
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a South American Yellowfoot Tortoise sighting in Manu National Park on a given day, based on 30 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 17th most-seen of the 56 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January–February and October
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a South American Yellowfoot Tortoise in Manu National Park on a given day, against under 5% in March, June and December, the lowest months.
Between 3 and 6 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most South American Yellowfoot Tortoise sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 4
Of the 4 parks where we can rate South American Yellowfoot Tortoise sightings, Manu National Park ranks 3rd at about 20%. The best odds are in Yasuní National Park (Ecuador, about 40%) and Tambopata National Reserve (Peru, about 20%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the South American Yellowfoot Tortoise is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Manu National Park (30 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
