White River Oligocene Turtle Identification

[ParkerPaleo]

What are the characteristics of a White River turtle shell that can differentiate between Stylemys and Gopherus (Testudo)?

[Tidgy's Dad]

I don't understand. Gopherus is not the same as Testudo, though they all belong to the same family. 

Are you asking the difference between Stylemys and Gopherus or  Stylemys and Testudo? 

Most of the differences are skeletal, but do you just wish to know about the tortoise shells? 

[ParkerPaleo]

I thought I read testudo was synonymized with gopherus for the white river, but I may be wrong.  I was trying to figure out if I could identify testudo from stylemys by shell alone.

[turtlesteve]

Photos of the tortoise in question?

[ParkerPaleo]

I don't have a particular specimen in question.  There are ~20 turtles in the collection here.  I was interested in what the characters are.

[mikeymig]

Maybe this will help. Testudo species have a higher dome to the carapace and more ornamentation to the carapace and plastron. Stylemys tend to be more "flat" topped with simple, if any, ornamentation.