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 Tambopata National Reserve, so these are its closest relatives here: other reptiles.
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a South American Yellowfoot Tortoise sighting in Tambopata National Reserve on a given day, based on 64 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 15th most-seen of the 47 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
In that month about 40% of wildlife watchers report a South American Yellowfoot Tortoise in Tambopata National Reserve on a given day, against under 5% in November and December, the lowest months. That is one of Tambopata National Reserve's wettest months, with about 380 mm of rain against 45 mm in July.
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.
2nd of 4
Of the 4 parks where we can rate South American Yellowfoot Tortoise sightings, Tambopata National Reserve ranks 2nd at about 20%. The best odds are in Yasuní National Park (Ecuador, about 40%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the South American Yellowfoot Tortoise is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Tambopata National Reserve (64 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.
