A red-footed tortoise with a dark shell and red spots on its legs. — Photo: Bjoertvedt, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Red-Footed Tortoise

Chelonoidis carbonaria

A South American tortoise with black skin and red patches like glowing coals that spreads seeds by eating fruit.

🐢 Turtles and Tortoises

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About the Red-Footed Tortoise

Red-footed tortoises live in dry forest, savanna, grasslands and rainforest edges from southern Central America through South America east of the Andes to northern Argentina, and on some Caribbean islands. Males are about 13.5 inches long and females about 11.5. Their black skin has red patches on the jaw, tail and legs. They eat plants, fruit, flowers, fungi, snails, worms and slow insects.^[1]

Quick facts

Scientific name: Chelonoidis carbonaria^[1]
Size: Males about 13.5 inches; females about 11.5 inches.^[1]
Lifespan: Up to 50 years.^[1]
Diet: Omnivore. Plants, fruits, flowers, fungi, snails, worms and insects.^[1]
Habitat: Dry forest, savanna, grassland and rainforest near open areas.^[1]
Where it lives: Southern Central America through South America east of the Andes; some Caribbean islands.^[1]
Babies: 5 to 15 eggs; hatch after about 150 days.^[1]
Conservation status: Not yet assessed for the IUCN Red List.^[1]

Fun facts

It's one of only three tortoise species on mainland South America.^[1]
Males make clucking sounds when courting.^[1]
Rival males try to flip each other over.^[1]

Vocabulary

scute: One of the large plates that cover a tortoise's shell.
carapace: The top part of a turtle's or tortoise's shell.
plastron: The bottom part of a turtle's or tortoise's shell.
seed dispersal: How seeds get carried to new places, like when an animal eats fruit and drops the seeds.
omnivore: An animal that eats both plants and other animals.

See it in person

San Francisco Zoo & GardensSan Francisco, California · ReptilesSee this animal on the zoo's website ↗

Sources

[1] San Francisco Zoo & Gardens. “Red footed tortoise.” https://www.sfzoo.org/red-footed-tortoise/ (accessed 2026-10-02)

Facts last checked 2026-10-02.

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