In adult males, the plastron concavity may be pigmented. The lateral and ventral concavities are most strongly developed in males. The Red-footed tortoise is found in South America, from Panama to northern Argentina and on several Caribbean islands. They live in drier forest areas, grasslands, and the savanna, or rainforest belts adjoining more open habitats. They are primarily herbivorous.
Breeding is synchronized with the onset of the rainy season.
Males identify each other eliciting a characteristic head movement, a series of jerks away from and back to mid-position. If he gets no response, he sniffs the cloacal region of the other tortoise. If the other is a female, copulation usually follows, sometimes after a period of biting at the legs. Rival males battle, attempting to overturn each other.