There are approximately 10 known species in the genus, most of which were originally assigned to
Testudo (a genus which formally encompassed almost all fossil tortoises) or
Cheirogaster, the type species of which,
Cheirogaster maurini is known from the
Eocene of France and is quite different to the species assigned to
Titanochelon. After a major systematic revision in 2014, the genus
Titanochelon was created to house these related species. •
Titanochelon bolivari (Hernandez-Pacheco, 1917) (type)
Iberian Peninsula, Miocene •
Titanochelon bacharidisi (Vlachos et al., 2014) Greece, Bulgaria, Late Miocene •
Titanochelon perpiniana (Deperet 1885) France, Pliocene •
Titanochelon schafferi (Szalai, 1931) Samos, Greece, Miocene •
Titanochelon vitodurana (Biedermann 1862) Switzerland, Early Miocene •
Titanochelon kayadibiensis Karl, Staesche & Safi, 2021, Anatolia, Miocene •
Titanochelon eurysternum (Gervais, 1848–1852) France, Miocene •
Titanochelon ginsburgi (de Broin, 1977 ) France, Miocene •
Titanochelon leberonensis (Depéret, 1890) France, Miocene •
Titanochelon schleichi Pappa, Vlachos & Moser, 2023
, Germany, Miocene (Burdigalian/Langhian boundary) The giant tortoise species
"Testudo" gymnesica Bate, 1914 from the Lower Pliocene-Lower Pleistocene of the
Balearic Islands was formerly suggested to be possibly attributable to this genus, but the taxon displays notable differences from the species assigned to
Titanochelon. Remains from the
Pleistocene of Malta were also considered possibly attributable to this genus. In 2025, "
Testudo"
punica Arambourg, 1979 from the Early Pliocene of
Ichkeul, Tunisia was suggested to be closely related and possibly belonging to
Titanochelon, and was tentatively assigned to the genus as "
Titanochelon"
punicum. == Evolutionary history ==