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Much of the tortoise's water intake comes from moisture in the grasses and wildflowers they consume in the spring. A large urinary bladder can store over 40% of the tortoise's body weight in water, urea, uric acid, and nitrogenous wastes. During very dry times, they may give off waste as a white paste rather than a watery urine. During periods ...
General American usage agrees; turtle is often a general term; 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 ...
Turtles can live long lives. The oldest living turtle and land animal is said to be a Seychelles giant tortoise named Jonathan, who turned 187 in 2019. [101] A Galápagos tortoise named Harriet was collected by Charles Darwin in 1835; it died in 2006, having lived for at least 176 years. Most wild turtles do not reach that age.
These tortoises can weigh as much as 417 kg (919 lb) and can grow to be 1.3 m (4 ft 3 in) long. Giant tortoises originally made their way to islands from the mainland via oceanic dispersal. Tortoises are aided in such dispersal by their ability to float with their heads up and to survive for up to six months without food or fresh water. [3]
Many parrots can live upward of 60 years, and the lifespan of turtles can be even longer. But what happens when their owners die?
Male southern painted turtle shows his long front claws. Female painted turtle. The painted turtles mate in spring and fall in waters of 10–25 °C (50–77 °F). [99] Males start producing sperm in early spring, when they can bask to an internal temperature of 17 °C (63 °F).
As the name suggests, the Chinese striped-necked turtle, or Maureyms sinensis, is found in China as well as Taiwan, Vietnam, and Laos.It lives in swamps, ponds, freshwater marshes, and soft-bottom ...
Typical of sea turtles, it has a dorsoventrally depressed body with specially adapted flipper-like front limbs and a beak. Kemp's ridley turtle adults reach a maximum of 75 cm (30 in) in carapace length and weighing a maximum of 50 kg (110 lb). [13] The adult's oval carapace is almost as wide as it is long and is usually olive-gray in color.