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Tortoises () are a family, Testudinidae, of land-dwelling vertebrates in the order Testudines. Tortoises are shielded from predators by a shell. The top part of the shell is the carapace, the underside is the plastron, and the two are connected by the bridge. The carapace is fused to both the vertebrae and ribcage, and tortoises are unique among vertebrates in that the pectoral and pelvic girdles are inside, rather than outside, the ribcage. Tortoises can vary in size from a few centimeters to two meters. They are usually diurnal animals with tendencies to be crepuscular depending on the ambient temperatures. They are generally reclusive animals.
Differences exist in usage of the common terms turtle, tortoise, and terrapin, depending on the variety of English being used; usage is inconsistent and contradictory.[1] These terms are common names and do not reflect precise biological or taxonomic distinctions.[2]
The American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists uses "turtle" to describe all species of the order Testudines, regardless of whether they are land-dwelling or sea-dwelling, and uses "tortoise" as a more specific term for slow-moving terrestrial species.[1] General American usage agrees; turtle is often a general term (although some restrict it to aquatic turtles); tortoise is used only in reference to terrestrial turtles or, more narrowly, only those members of Testudinidae, the family of modern land tortoises; and terrapin may refer to turtles that are small and live in fresh and brackish water, in particular the diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin).[3][4][5][6] In America, for example, the members of the genus Terrapene dwell on land, yet are referred to as box turtles rather than tortoises.[2]
British usage, by contrast, tends not to use "turtle" as a generic term for all members of the order, and also applies the term "tortoises" broadly to all land-dwelling members of the order Testudines, regardless of whether they are actually members of the family Testudinidae.[6] In Britain, terrapin is used to refer to a larger group of semiaquatic turtles than the restricted meaning in America.[4][7]
Australian usage is different from both American and British usage.[6] Land tortoises are not native to Australia, yet traditionally freshwater turtles have been called "tortoises" in Australia.[8] Some Australian experts disapprove of this usage—believing that the term tortoises is "better confined to purely terrestrial animals with very different habits and needs, none of which are found in this country"—and promote the use of the term "freshwater turtle" to describe Australia's primarily aquatic members of the order Testudines because it avoids misleading use of the word "tortoise" and also is a useful distinction from marine turtles.[8]
Female tortoises dig nesting burrows in which they lay from one to 30 eggs.[9] Egg-laying typically occurs at night, after which the mother tortoise covers her
Baby Testudo marginata emerges from its egg
Baby tortoise, less than a day old
Testudo graeca ibera, Testudo hermanni boettgeri, Testudo hermanni hermanni, Testudo marginata sarda
Young (3.5 years) African spurred tortoise, Geochelone sulcata
Young, 20-year-old Tanzanian leopard tortoise feeding on grass
Aldabra giant tortoise, Geochelone gigantea
22-year-old leopard tortoise
African spurred tortoise from the Oakland Zoo
Pair of African spurred tortoises mate in a zoo
Boy rides a tortoise at a zoo
The tortoise is a symbol of the Ancient Greek god, Hermes.
Tortoise shells were used by ancient Chinese as oracle bones to make predictions.
In Hinduism, Kurma (Sanskrit: कुर्म) was the second Avatar of Vishnu. Like the Matsya Avatara, Kurma also belongs to the Satya Yuga. Vishnu took the form of a half-man, half-tortoise, the lower half being a tortoise. He is normally shown as having four arms. He sat on the bottom of the ocean after the Great Flood. A mountain was placed on his back by the other gods so they could churn the sea and find the ancient treasures of the Vedic peoples.
Family Testudinidae Batsch 1788[29]
This species list largely follows van Dijk et al. (2014)[27] and Rhodin et al. (2015).[28]
Most land-based tortoises are herbivores, feeding on grasses, weeds, leafy greens, flowers, and some fruits, although some omnivorous species are in this family. Pet tortoises typically require diets based on wild grasses, weeds, leafy greens and certain flowers. Certain species consume worms or insects and carrion in their normal habitats. Too much protein is detrimental in herbivorous species, and has been associated with shell deformities and other medical problems. As different tortoise species vary greatly in their nutritional requirements, it is essential to thoroughly research the dietary needs of an individual tortoise.
Giant tortoises move very slowly on dry land, at only 0.17 mph (0.27 km/h).[23] The fastest recorded tortoise speed is 5 mph.[24] Turtles have existed for over 200 million years.[25][26]
The brain of a tortoise is extremely small. In the 17th century, Francesco Redi performed an experiment involving removing the brain of a land tortoise, which then proceeded to live six months. Freshwater tortoises, when subject to the same experiment, continued similarly, but did not live so long. Redi also cut the head off a tortoise entirely, and it lived for 23 days.[20][21][22]
In most tortoise species, the female tends to be larger than the male. The male plastron is curved inwards to aid reproduction. The easiest way to determine the sex of a tortoise is to look at the tail. The females, as a general rule, have smaller tails, dropped down, whereas the males have much longer tails which are usually pulled up and to the side of the rear shell.
Many species of tortoises are sexually dimorphic, though the differences between males and females vary from species to species. In some species, males have a longer, more protruding neck plate than their female counterparts, while in others, the claws are longer on the females.
Jonathan, a Seychelles giant tortoise living on the island of St Helena, may be as old as 182[17][18] or 178 years.[19]
Timothy, a spur-thighed tortoise, lived to be about 165 years old. For 38 years, she was carried as a mascot aboard various ships in Britain's Royal Navy. Then in 1892, at age 53, she retired to the grounds of Powderham Castle in Devon. Up to the time of her death in 2004, she was believed to be the United Kingdom's oldest resident.
Harriet was a resident at the Australia Zoo in Queensland from 1987 to her death in 2006; she was believed to have been brought to England by Charles Darwin aboard the Beagle and then on to Australia by John Clements Wickham.[16] Harriet died on June 23, 2006, just shy of her 176th birthday.
The Alipore Zoo in India was the home to Adwaita, which zoo officials claimed was the oldest living animal until its death on March 23, 2006. Adwaita (sometimes spelled with two ds) was an Aldabra giant tortoise brought to India by Lord Wellesley, who handed it over to the Alipur Zoological Gardens in 1875 when the zoo was set up. West Bengal officials said records showed Adwaita was at least 150 years old, but other evidence pointed to 250. Adwaita was said to be the pet of Robert Clive.[15]
Tortoises generally have one of the longest lifespans of any animal, and some individuals are known to have lived longer than 150 years.[12] Because of this, they symbolize longevity in some cultures, such as China. The oldest tortoise ever recorded, and one of the oldest individual animals ever recorded, was Tu'i Malila, which was presented to the Tongan royal family by the British explorer Captain Cook shortly after its birth in 1777. Tu'i Malila remained in the care of the Tongan royal family until its death by natural causes on May 19, 1965, at the age of 188.[13] The record for the longest-lived vertebrate is exceeded only by one other, a koi named Hanako whose death on July 17, 1977, ended a 226-year lifespan.[14]
The number of concentric rings on the carapace, much like the cross-section of a tree, can sometimes give a clue to how old the animal is, but, since the growth depends highly on the accessibility of food and water, a tortoise that has access to plenty of forage (or is regularly fed by its owner) with no seasonal variation will have no noticeable rings. Moreover, some tortoises grow more than one ring per season, and in some others, due to wear, some rings are no longer visible.[11]
for additional protein. larvae or insect worms species commonly will consume herbivorous to break out of its shell. It digs to the surface of the nest and begins a life of survival on its own. They are hatched with an embryonic egg sac which serves as a source of nutrition for the first three to seven days until they have the strength and mobility to find food. Juvenile tortoises often require a different balance of nutrients than adults, so may eat foods which a more mature tortoise would not. For example, the young of a strictly egg tooth uses an hatchling. The plastron of a female tortoise often has a noticeable V-shaped notch below the tail which facilitates passing the eggs. Upon completion of the incubation period, a fully formed plastron and carapace opening between the cloacal The size of the egg depends on the size of the mother and can be estimated by examining the width of the [10]
Tortoise, Chelonoidis, Galápagos Islands, Albert Günther, Animal
Delhi, India, Rajasthan, Pakistan, Maharashtra
Cnidaria, Sponge, Bacteria, Fungus, Biological classification
Animal, Cryptodira, Testudinidae, Madagascar, Tortoise
Martin Secker, D. H. Lawrence, San Gervasio, Tuscany, Florence, New Mexico
Tortoise, Animal, Manouria, Cryptodira, Testudinoidea
United States, Canada, Argentina, China, Germany
Tortoise, Testudinidae, Philippines, Aldabrachelys, Astrochelys
Animal, Tortoise, Geochelone, Kinixys, Cryptodira