Redfoot: male or female?

Question
I've had my redfoot for 16 years, and always thought it was a girl.  Recently someone supposedly in the know said it's a male.  I'm still not convinced.  The shell is 15" long, and 10 inches across.  There is no hour-glass shape at all, and underneath is a slight, but only slight, indention inward (just a little concave).  Can you tell from this description?

Answer
There are 4 main variations of Red-foots, and only one, those from the Northeast* areas, usually have strong hour-glassing. If the plastron of your tortoise is more than about 1/4th dark color, then it will probably not show the hourglass shape.

Most 16 year old males would have a STRONGLY indented plastron, so this is not really indicative.

Try this link, and look at the angle of plastron opening around the tail, and the tail itself. http://www.chelonia.org/sexing/sexing_Geochelone_carbonaria.htm



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*- The 4 groupings are:
- Northeast, north of the Amazon, east of the Andes- the 'typical' Redfoot
- Northwest, west of the Andes, more coffee color than black shells. Generally slightly more pale limbs.
- Southwest, south of the Amazon, west of the Brazilian highlands. Both of the southern groups have darker plastrons. These males are rounder than the Northerns.
- Southeast are less well defined. They seem to be mostly the classic 'cherryhead' coloration.

These groupings are not well defined or widely accepted but useful guides.