The Aldabra giant tortoise (Aldabrachelys gigantea), from the islands of the Aldabra Atoll in the Seychelles, is one of the largest tortoises in the world. Historically, giant tortoises were on many of the western Indian Ocean islands, as well as Madagascar, and the fossil record indicates giant tortoises once occurred on every continent and many islands with the exception of Australia and Antarctica. Many of the Indian Ocean species were thought to be driven to extinction by over-exploitation by European sailors, and they were all seemingly extinct by 1840 with the exception of the Aldabran giant tortoise on the island atoll of Aldabra. Although some remnant individuals of A. g. hololissa and A. g. arnoldi may remain in captivity, in recent times, these have all been reduced as subspecies of A. g. gigantea.
Description
The carapace is a brown or tan color with a high, domed shape. It has stocky, heavily scaled legs to support its heavy body. The neck of the Aldabra giant tortoise is very long, even for its great size, which helps the animal to exploit tree branches up to a meter from the ground as a food source. Similar in size to the famous Galápagos giant tortoise, its carapace averages 122cm (48in) in length with an average weight of 250kg (550lb). Females are generally smaller than males, with average specimens measuring 91cm (36in) in length and weighing 159kg (351lb). Medium-sized specimens in captivity were reported as 70 to 110kg (150 to 240lb) in body mass. Another study found body masses of up to 132kg (291lb) most commonplace.
Giant tortoises are characteristic reptiles that are found on two groups of tropical islands: the Aldabra Atoll in Seychelles and the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador (a population at the Mascarene Islands was exterminated by the 1900s) . These tortoises can weigh as much as 417kg (919lb) and can grow to be 1.3m (4ft 3in) long. Giant tortoises originally made their way to islands from the mainland; for example, Aldabra Atoll and Mascarenes giant tortoises are related to Madagascar tortoises while Galapagos giant tortoises are related to Ecuador mainland tortoises. This phenomenon of excessive growth is known as islands gigantism or insular gigantism. It occurs when the size of the animals that are isolated on an islands increases dramatically in comparison to their mainland relatives. This is due to several factors such as relaxed predation pressure, competitive release, or as an adaptation to increased environmental fluctuations on islands. These animals belong to an ancient group of reptiles, appearing about 250 million years ago. By the Upper Cretaceous, 70 or 80 million years ago, some had already become gigantic. About 1 million years ago tortoises reached the Galápagos Islands. Most of the gigantic species began to disappear about 100,000 years ago. Only 250 years ago there were at least 20 species and subspecies in islands of the Indian Ocean and 14 or 15 subspecies in the Galápagos Islands.
The first bag contained 24 animals, including Aldabra giant tortoises, red-footed tortoises, beaded lizards, shingle-back skinks, juvenile rhinoceros iguanas, and the rare Albino bat ... tortoises.
The first bag contained 24 animals, including Aldabra giant tortoises, red-footed tortoises, beaded lizards, shingle-back skinks, juvenile rhinoceros iguanas, and the rare Albino bat.
GREENVILLE — Five months after the loss of its beloved lions, the Greenville Zoo has added a new animal. On Nov ... "They're cool animals ... Dowe said on Nov ... The porcupines will be joined by the zoo's Masai giraffes and Aldabra giant tortoises ... ....
One bag contained 24 animals, including Aldabra giant tortoises, red-footed tortoises, beaded lizards, shingleback skinks, juvenile rhinoceros iguanas, and an Albino bat ... and baby leopard tortoises.
Turtles and tortoises are facing a global extinction crisis ... In contrast, Giant Aldabra tortoises exhibited slightly higher rates of fertilization failure, indicating that fertility may be a larger concern for this species.
An island reserve protects the vulnerable Aldabra giant tortoise ... In an attempt to make amends the reserve is now a leading sanctuary for vulnerable Aldabra giant tortoises — which can weigh 550 pounds — and two smaller varieties.
Aldabra provides a refuge for about 150,000 giant tortoises ...Giant tortoises were wiped out from most Indian Ocean islands in the 19th century as a result of predation by sailors, but the Aldabra population thrived thanks to their isolation.
Aldabra are among ... Aldabra giant tortoises, which can grow up to 1.2 metres in length and weigh up to a quarter of a tonne, are among the world’s largest and have a life expectancy of 100 to 150 years.
The first two Aldabra giant tortoise bodies were found in Ashclyst Forest, Devon on January 8 and a further five were recovered nearby on January 12... This picture from 2021 shows another Aldabra giant tortoise found dead in the same forest.
Spend more than a week over the new year pottering around the dreamy Seychelles on Emerald Cruises’ sleek, 100-passenger Azzurra, visiting Praslin; rugged Curieuse, home to Aldabra giant tortoises; La ...
The force previously said they were thought to be Aldabra giant tortoises – classed as vulnerable by the InternationalUnion for Conservation of Nature... Aldabra tortoises, together with their distantly ...
Aiken Standard
15 Nov 2024
Aiken Standard
15 Nov 2024