The Galapagos Giant Tortoise can grow to be 5 feet tall … It is the only Indian Ocean giant tortoise species alive today, others having become extinct soon after the arrival of human settlers (including the Seychelles giant tortoise which is now thought to be extinct in the wild, although the Aldabra giant tortoise and the Seychelles giant tortoise are so similar genetically that they are thought by some to be the same species). Here you are some of them to amaze yourself and get the strength you want to call us now and visit Galapagos!. The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. For further information visit www.aboutcookies.org or www.allaboutcookies.org. Aldabra giant tortoise is a herbivore. Competing males will stand tall, necks stretched and facing each other with mouths agape. Here you are some of them to amaze yourself and get the strength you want to call us now and visit Galapagos! Fourteen subspecies, each in some way distinctive to the island of its residence, comprise the sole giant tortoise species. As a result of their endemic capture, only 15,000 remain today. Giant Tortoises: Relevance and Fun Facts - Galapagos Center. This is the main reason why we need you to take care of the fauna you visit in Galapagos, because its tortoises are not only popular but also endangered. From January through August, toward the end of the rainy season, the male begins to sniff the air, searching for a female’s scent. The eggs take about four to five months to develop, and hatchlings usually emerge between December and April. The names refer to the same tortoise. They lived in the Mascarene Islands (Mauritius, Rodrigues and Réunion) in the Indian Ocean. Easy: the size. Males are slightly larger than females. Predators include dogs and goats who eat the tortoises along with their food. The tortoise lives in seven of the Galápagos Islands. They can weigh as much as 3 or 400 kg (660–880 lbs) and can grow to be 1.3 to 1.9 m (4–5.9 ft) long (accounts vary). They said the meat of the giant tortoise was "succulent meat and the oil from their bodies as pure as butter, but best of all, the giants could hibernate in a ship’s damp for a year or more".[3]. They can sleep for nearly 16 hours a day. Although the tortoises are in enclosures at the research station, visitors are permitted to enter to get a closer look at these giants, some of which could quite easily carry a fully grown man on their backs. As for communication, males groan loudly when mating, but it is the only vocalization they make. Turtles have webbed feet or flippers. I never dreamed that islands, about 50 or 60 miles apart, and most of them in sight of each other, formed of precisely the same rocks, placed under a quite similar climate, rising to a nearly equal height, would have been differently tenanted; but we shall soon see that this is the case. Males can grow to be up to 4 feet long and can weigh up to 700 pounds. During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Galápagos were frequented by buccaneers preying on Spanish treasure ships. There were 18 species of giant tortoises that once lived on the islands in Indian Ocean. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use Privacy Policy. The longest living survivor is 182 years old (probably).[1]. Young Aldabra giant tortoises reach adult size and sexual maturity at the age of 25 years. There were 18 species of giant tortoises that once lived on the islands in Indian Ocean. Domed-shell tortoises are bigger and feed primarily on grass, so they inhabit more vegetated islands. The “saddleback” carapace, found on the Hood (Española) and Pinta varieties, allows for the tortoise’s long neck to emerge, permitting it to feed on the hard-to-reach vegetation of the drier islands. Check this: a turtle can be any reptile with a shell, if they belong to the Chelonii order, and most of the times they can swim. Their endoskeleton is not so known because we don’t see the inside of tortoises, but they do have one, just like most animals (ribs, spine, etc.). Picture Credit: Cindy Andrie (Wiki Commons), Top 10 Things to Consider Before Buying a Dog, Top 10 Ways to Make your Garden more Wildlife Friendly, Top 10 Things to Think about Before Buying Fish, Top 10 Ways to be an Eco-Friendly Traveller. Easy: the size. . Mothers take care of their babies, but after they grow up they must become independent.