Giant Tortoises

Giant tortoises live in such places as Madagascar, the Seychelles, Mauritius, Réunion, the Galápagos Islands, Sulawesi, Timor, Flores and Java, often reaching enormous size—they can weigh as much as 300 kg (660 lbs) and can grow to be 1.3 m long. Today, the world's largest population inhabits Aldabra Atoll in Seychelles, where there are approximately 150,000 individuals. These animals belong to the most ancient group of reptiles, appearing about 250 million years ago. In the Upper Cretaceous, 70 or 80 million years ago some already became gigantic and about 1 million years ago these reptiles reached the Galápagos Islands. Until 100,000 years ago most of the gigantic species began to disappear for unknown causes and only 250 years ago there were at least 20 species and subspecies in islands of the Indian Ocean and 14 or 15 species in the Galapagos Islands. They are one of the world's longest-living animals, with an average lifespan of 100 years or more. TheMadagascar radiated tortoise Tu'i Malila was 188 at death in Tonga in 1965. Harriet was reported by the Australia Zoo to be 176 years old when she died in 2006. Also, on 23 March 2006, an Aldabra Giant Tortoise namedAdwaita died at Alipore Zoological Gardens in Kolkata. He was brought to the zoo in the 1870s from the estate of Lord Robert Clive and is thought to have been around 255 years old when he died.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• Giant Tortoises
• Long lives
• Galápagos Islands

[EleTurtle]

I like turtles.

[taixuatgiangho]

i like them very much

They are very big, thank for sharing.

[Hello5girl]

Wow!!