Homopus

As a group, these closely related species are commonly known in Europe and Africa as padlopers (originally meaning "path-walkers" in Afrikaans), due to their habit of making tiny pathways through vegetation.[2][3] In other parts of the world, such as the United States, they are known as Cape tortoises.[1][4]

The genus is indigenous and endemic to South Africa.

The genus contains these species:

Image	Common Name	Scientific name	Distribution
	common padloper or parrot-beaked tortoise	Homopus areolatus	southern Cape coastal region, the most common padloper species.[5]
	greater padloper or Karoo cape tortoise [sic]	Homopus femoralis [6]	the highveld grasslands, the largest of the padlopers.[7]

They are threatened by habitat destruction,[4] traffic on roads, overgrazing, and poaching for the pet trade.[7] Another threat comes from introduced species, such as domestic dogs and pigs.

Among the Homopus species, H. areolatus adapts well to captivity, as their diets are not highly specialized.[3] The others do not generally survive well in captivity unless some effort is made to supply them with their natural food, that is, endemic plants from the Cape/Karoo regions.[3] Many are taken from their natural habitat each year, and subsequently die as a result, as they do not readily adapt to typical captive diets and environment change.[3] However, they can be very hardy in captivity, and most problems with captive care are caused by faulty nutrition, high humidity, or bad husbandry.[3]