Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle
Specialist Group
The Mission of the
IUCN Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group (TFTSG)
is to identify and document threats to the survival of
all species of tortoises and freshwater turtles,
and to help catalyze conservation action
to ensure that none become extinct
and that sustainable populations of all species
persist in the wild.
Tortoises in the Mist
Galapagos Giant Tortoises, Chelonoidis vicina,
on the rim of Volcan Alcedo, Galápagos, Ecuador.
Photo by Peter C.H. Pritchard
Access the latest updates to our massive
CBFTT Monograph Project:
Conservation Biology of Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises
Published by Chelonian Research Foundation and Turtle Conservancy
105 separate accounts, 1757 pages total,
139 species and subspecies covered,
and 8 annotated checklists
(7 for modern taxa, 1 for recently extinct taxa),
by 202 contributing authors
Latest update published online here on
10 August 2018
Access the latest update of our
Checklist of Turtles of the World:
by the
Turtle Taxonomy Working Group
of the IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group
8 annotated checklists currently available
(7 in the CBFTT monograph project)
Latest update published online here on
3 August 2017
Access the latest update to our
"Turtles in Trouble" reports on the
World's 25+ Most Endangered Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles:
4 quadrennial Top 25 Lists currently available
Latest update posted online here on
3 March 2018
Behler Turtle Conservation Award
2018 Honoree – Russ Mittermeier
The “Nobel Prize” of Turtle Conservation
Checklist of Extinct Pleistocene and Holocene Turtles of the World:
1 annotated checklist currently available
Published online here on
16 April 2015
Access the latest updates to our
TFTSG Turtle Taxonomy Literature Database:
Turtles of the World:
Online Turtle Taxonomic Literature Database and PDF Library
940 turtle PDF's currently available,
Latest additions posted online here on
27 April 2014
PDF's added in 2013–2014 are marked
(Banner photo: Malayan Snail-eating Turtle, Malayemys macrocephala, from Thailand; photo by Peter Paul van Dijk)