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Giant Tortoises
I look on the hieroglyph, weaving a dream…
While the dark giant tortoise crept on ‘mid their stems,
Never heeding the plash of the bright-dropping gems.
Giant Tortoises Today
In 2006, Adwaitya the Aldabra giant tortoise (Geochelone gigantes), personal pet of Clive of India (1725-74), died in Kolkata Zoo, aged 255. He was, as far as we know, the planet’s oldest animal and it is astonishing to imagine a life that began before Mozart and the French Revolution ended with an announcement on CNN.
Tortoise longevity is partly due to their slow reproductivity. Giant tortoises are big, cold-blooded herbivores, with a sluggish metabolism. It takes them at least 30 years to reach sexual maturity. Today they only live in isolated island environments with no natural predators as adults, so while any tortoises which reach adulthood are relatively safe, their young are not so lucky. They hatch in batches of ten, of which of only one is likely to reach adolescence, let alone adulthood. So, a long life means a much better chance of passing on the genes.
Today, there are only 12 species, all but one of which are endangered. The speed with which humans dispatched the island tortoise species is astonishing. Early reports from the Galápagos tell of seeing 3,000 together, so that one could walk on their shells for some distance without touching the ground. Within a few decades, most species had been eaten to extinction. They had no way of defending themselves: even their heads are too big to be withdrawn into their shells. This is because they went for so many millennia without being attacked that the ability to protect themselves in this way faded out. In fact, they compete in neck-stretching competitions to establish rank; the one who can stick his neck out furthest gets to be dominant.
If there is a glimmer of hope it concerns Adwaitya’s descendents. In 1875, the government of Mauritius declared Geochelone gigantes the world’s first protected species. There are now 152,000 Aldabra giant tortoises – 90% of the world’s total population – which are happily isolated from their only serious threat: us.
Giant tortoises compete in neck-stretching competitions to establish rank.
Dodos and Darwin
Whaler crews called their tortoise-harvesting expeditions ‘turpining’, from a mispronunciation of ‘terrapin’. One ship’s log records turpining parties taking 14 tons of live tortoises on board one ship in four days. They were very difficult to carry, but smaller ones could be worn on a man’s back like a rucksack.
The giant tortoises unwittingly helped the dodo to go extinct. Dutch visitors to Mauritius named dodos ‘Disgusting Birds’, because they tasted so horrible that even starving men could hardly stomach them. But they found they could force dodo meat down when it was dressed with tortoise oil, which was held to be ‘superior in taste to that of the olive.’
It took 300 years after its first discovery for the giant tortoise to receive a scientific name.
Giant tortoises can drink enough at one session to last them for several months.
Spanish sailors who discovered Galápagos 1535 named it after the tortoises; the Spanish for tortoise is galápago.
Dangerously Edible
The reason that the giant tortoise wasn’t properly classified by scientists for so long appears to be quite simple: they were so delicious that no specimens ever made it back to Europe without being eaten on the voyage.
According to scores of accounts over several centuries, the giant tortoise is by far the most edible creature man has ever encountered. 16th-century explorers compared them to chicken, beef, mutton and butter – but only to say how much better the tortoise was. One tortoise would feed several men, and both its meat and its fat were perfectly digestible, no matter how much you ate.
Giant tortoises were invaluable to sailors, as they could be kept alive for at least six months without food or water. Stacked helplessly on their backs, they could be killed and eaten as and when necessary. Better still, they sucked up gallons of water at a time and kept it in a special bladder, meaning that a carefully butchered tortoise was also a fountain of cool, perfectly drinkable water. Large-scale commercial whaling in the 19th century was only made possible because the giant tortoises enabled ships to stay at sea for weeks at a time.
Female giant tortoises return year after year to the same place to lay their eggs.
One was eating a piece of cactus, and when I approached, it looked at me, and then quietly walked away: the other gave a deep hiss and drew in its head.
CHARLES DARWIN (1809-82)
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Tortoise, Giant
This tortoise is half the height of a human, and has a domed shell, leathery skin, and a long neck.
Giant Tortoise CR 1
Speed 10 ft.
Melee bite +4 (1d6+3)
Str 14, Dex 7, Con 16, Int 2, Wis 13, Cha 9
Base Atk +2; CMB +4; CMD 12 (16 vs. trip)
Feats Endurance, Great Fortitude
Skills Perception +7 (+3 for sound–based checks); Racial Modifiers –4 Perception for sound–based checks
SQ buoyant, shell, slow and steady
Buoyant (Ex)
A tortoise that fails a Swim check by 5 or more does not sink.
Shell (Ex)
As a move action, a tortoise can pull its extremities and head into its shell. It can’t move or attack as long as it remains in this state, but its armor bonus from natural armor increases by 4 as long as it does. It may end this state as a move action.
Slow and Steady (Ex)
A tortoise’s speed is never modified by armor or encumbrance.
Environment warm deserts or islands
Organization solitary, pair, or herd (6–12)
Treasure none
Giant tortoises typically live on tropical islands without large predators. Despite their impressive shells, their slow speed makes them easy prey, especially for vermin and other creatures that consume their eggs. Tortoises are herbivores, and can survive for months or even years without food or water. Despite being poor swimmers, their buoyancy and long necks capable mean they can survive for significant periods at sea.
A typical giant tortoise is 3-1/2 feet tall to the top of the shell and weighs 500 pounds.
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary 4 В© 2013, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Authors: Dennis Baker, Jesse Benner, Savannah Broadway, Ross Byers, Adam Daigle, Tim Hitchcock, Tracy Hurley, James Jacobs, Matt James, Rob McCreary, Jason Nelson, Tom Phillips, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, Sean K Reynolds, F. Wesley Schneider, Tork Shaw, and Russ Taylor.
Aldabra Giant Tortoise
One got to be 255 years old!
Aldabra Giant Tortoise Scientific Classification
Aldabra Giant Tortoise Conservation Status
Aldabra Giant Tortoise Locations
Aldabra Giant Tortoise Facts
Aldabra Giant Tortoise Physical Characteristics
Aldabra Giant Tortoise Images
Click through all of our Aldabra Giant Tortoise images in the gallery.
Aldabra Giant Tortoise Classification and Evolution
The Aldabra Giant Tortoise is a giant species of Tortoise native to the Aldabra Islands in the Indian ocean. The Aldabra giant tortoise is one of the largest species of Tortoise on the planet and is also one of the world’s longest living animals, with one Aldabra Giant Tortoise individual reaching the grand old age of 255 years old. The Aldabra Giant Tortoise is the only Indian ocean giant Tortoise species alive today as others have now become extinct with the arrival of Human settlers (including the Seychelles Giant Tortoise which is now thought to be extinct in the wild). The Aldabra Giant Tortoise and the Seychelles Giant Tortoise are so similar in both appearance and behaviour that they are actually thought by some to be the same species.
Aldabra Giant Tortoise Anatomy and Appearance
The Aldabra Giant Tortoise has an enormous dome-shaped shell which acts as protective armour to the soft, vulnerable body of the Aldabra Giant Tortoise underneath. The Aldabra Giant Tortoise also has an incredibly long neck which it uses to tear leaves from the branches higher up trees. The male Aldabra Giant Tortoise grows to an average size of 1.1 meters long, with females being slightly smaller at a length of 0.9 meters. The males, although not really that much bigger, are also known to weigh nearly 100kg more than their female counterparts. They are slow-moving animals with thick, short legs and round, almost flat feet that help them when they are walking on the sand.
Aldabra Giant Tortoise Distribution and Habitat
The Aldabra Giant Tortoise is primarily found inhabiting grasslands and swamps on the islands of the Aldabra atoll (an island of coral that encircles a lagoon partially or completely), which forms part of the Seychelles island chain in the Indian Ocean. They once shared these islands with a number of other giant Tortoise species, but many of these were hunted to extinction in the 1700s and 1800s. Although the Aldabra Giant Tortoise is usually found in areas of dense, low-lying vegetation, the Aldabra Giant Tortoise is also known to wander into more sparse, rocky regions when food is in short supply. The Aldabra Giant Tortoise can also often be found resting in the shade, or in a very shallow pool of water to cool themselves down in the heat.
Aldabra Giant Tortoise Behaviour and Lifestyle
Aldabra Giant Tortoises are found both individually and in herds, which tend to gather mostly on open grasslands. The Aldabra Giant Tortoise is generally most active in the mornings when they spend the most time browsing for food, before the temperature gets too high. The Aldabra Giant Tortoise is also known to dig underground burrows or rest in swamps to keep cool during the heat of the day. Despite being slow and cautious animals, the Aldabra Giant Tortoise is said to be uninterested in the presence of people, indicating that one of the reasons that they were so easy for Human settlers to hunt, was simply because these animals had no fear of them.
Aldabra Giant Tortoise Reproduction and Life Cycles
Female Aldabra Giant Tortoises lay up to 25 rubbery eggs between February and May, into a dry, shallow nest on the ground making them particularly vulnerable to being eaten by introduced predators. It is thought that female Aldabra Giant Tortoises are able to produce more than one clutch a year, which usually hatch after an 8 month incubation period. The baby Aldabra Giant Tortoises tend to all emerge during the same two week period which coincides with the arrival of the rainy season. They are very slow growing reptiles, and often do not reach sexual maturity until they are between 20 and 30 years old. Although some individuals have been known to live for more than 250 years, most live to be between 80 and 120 years old. Learn more about the oldest animals on earth here.
Aldabra Giant Tortoise Diet and Prey
The Aldabra Giant Tortoise is a herbivorous animal, spending much of its time browsing for food in its surrounding well-vegetated environment. The Aldabra Giant Tortoise is known to be found in places that are commonly known as “Tortoise Turf”, which is an area that contains more than 20 different grass and herb species. Aldabra Giant Tortoises also eat leaves, fruits and berries from the surrounding vegetation and are known to actually reach up on their hind legs to nibble on the treats slightly higher up. One of the biggest blows for the species with the introduction of domestic animals to the islands, was that they had competition for food that wasn’t there before. Goats are known to graze very quickly, munching their way through vast areas of the Tortoise’s native habitat.
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Aldabra Giant Tortoise Predators and Threats
Due to its immense size and natural lack of mammalian predators, the Aldabra Giant Tortoise adults were thought to have no predators in the wild (the more vulnerable and smaller young are said to have been hunted by a giant species of Crab that lives in burrows on the atoll). However, with Human settlers came introduced predators in the form of domesticated animals like Dogs and Goats, that both preyed on the Aldabra Giant Tortoise and ate its food. Today, the Aldabra Giant Tortoise is most threatened by habitat loss from growing Human settlements, with climate change becoming an increasingly bigger threat to the species in the future.
Aldabra Giant Tortoise Interesting Facts and Features
The Aldabra Giant Tortoise has now had four scientific names to date, mainly due to the fact that there are ongoing arguments about their similarity to other large Indian Ocean Tortoise species including the possibly extinct Seychelles Giant Tortoise. Despite population numbers having dropped through hunting, habitat loss and the introduction of new predators, one of the biggest threats to the Aldabra Giant Tortoise is the rising sea level, caused by climate change. The islands that these Tortoise’s live on are only a few meters above sea level and are therefore at great risk from these rising waters.
Aldabra Giant Tortoise Relationship with Humans
Before the 1700s, the Aldabra Giant Tortoise had no significant predators or competition for food, with all populations of the various giant Tortoise species thought to have been healthy. However, the people that arrived on the islands found both the Tortoises and their eggs, easy to catch and kill and somewhat good to eat, with mass hunting wiping out nearly all of them in less than 100 years. The Aldabra Giant Tortoise was also eaten by the domestic animals that arrived with people, with their ground-dwelling nests being particularly vulnerable. They have also now lost much of the natural habitat due to expanding Human settlements throughout the atoll.
Aldabra Giant Tortoise Conservation Status and Life Today
Today, the Aldabra Giant Tortoise is listed as an animal that is Vulnerable to extinction in the wild. However, the Aldabra atoll has now been protected from Human influence after having been declared a World Heritage Site, and is home to some 152,000 Aldabra Giant Tortoises, the world’s largest population of the animal. Another isolated population of the Aldabra Giant Tortoise resides on the island of Zanzibar, and other captive populations exist in conservation parks in Mauritius and Rodrigues. The captive breeding programmes on these islands are to try and revive the species, and populations on them today appear to be thriving.
Aldabra Giant Tortoise FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
Are Aldabra Giant Tortoises herbivores, carnivores, or omnivores?
Aldabra Giant Tortoises are Herbivores, meaning they eat plants.
What Kingdom do Aldabra Giant Tortoises belong to?
Aldabra Giant Tortoises belong to the Kingdom Animalia.
What phylum to Aldabra Giant Tortoises belong to?
Aldabra Giant Tortoises belong to the phylum Chordata.
What family do Aldabra Giant Tortoises belong to?
Aldabra Giant Tortoises belong to the family Testudinidae.
What order do Aldabra Giant Tortoises belong to?
Aldabra Giant Tortoises belong to the order Testudines.
What type of covering do Aldabra Giant Tortoises have?
Aldabra Giant Tortoises are covered in Scales.
What genus do Aldabra Giant Tortoises belong to?
Aldabra Giant Tortoises belong to the genus Geochelone.
Where do Aldabra Giant Tortoises live?
Aldabra Giant Tortoises live in the Aldabra atoll in the Indian Ocean.
In what type of habitat do Aldabra Giant Tortoises live?
Aldabra Giant Tortoises live in grasslands and swamps.
What are some predators of Aldabra Giant Tortoises?
Predators of Aldabra Giant Tortoises include giant crabs, humans, and cats.
How many eggs do Aldabra Giant Tortoises lay?
Aldabra Giant Tortoises typically lay 15 eggs.
What is an interesting fact about Aldabra Giant Tortoises?
One Aldabra Giant Tortoise got to be 255 years old!
What is the scientific name for the Aldabra Giant Tortoise?
The scientific name for the Aldabra Giant Tortoise is Geochelone gigantea.
What is the lifespan of an Aldabra Giant Tortoise?
Aldabra Giant Tortoises can live for 80 to 255 years.
How many species of Aldabra Giant Tortoise are there?
There is 1 species of Aldabra Giant Tortoise.
What is the biggest threat to the Aldabra Giant Tortoise?
The biggest threat to the Aldabra Giant Tortoise is habitat loss.
What is another name for the Aldabra Giant Tortoise?
The Aldabra Giant Tortoise is also called the giant tortoise.
How many Aldabra Giant Tortoises are left in the world?
There are 200,000 Aldabra Giant Tortoises left in the world.
How fast is an Aldabra Giant Tortoise?
An Aldabra Giant Tortoise can travel at speeds of up to 0.3 miles per hour.
Giant tortoise/raw
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Masterwork:Giant tortoise
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A medium-sized reptile with a large shell. It can retreat into its shell to escape predators.
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