Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Captive Galapagos tortoises can live up to 177 years. [5] For example, a captive individual, Harriet, lived for at least 175 years. Spanish explorers, who discovered the islands in the 16th century, named them after the Spanish galápago, meaning "tortoise". [6] Galápagos tortoises are native to seven of the Galápagos Islands.
Chelonoidis niger vandenburghi, also known as the Volcán Alcedo giant tortoise, the Alcedo Volcano giant tortoise or the Alcedo giant tortoise, is a subspecies of Galápagos tortoise endemic to the Galápagos archipelago in the equatorial eastern Pacific Ocean.
The closest living relative of the Galápagos giant tortoise (Chelonoidis niger) is the small Chaco tortoise from South America, although it is not a direct ancestor. Scientists believe the first tortoises arrived to the Galápagos 2–3 million years ago by drifting 600 miles from the South American coast on vegetation rafts or on their own.
#21 Big Boy Image credits: reddit.com The reason animals on land can’t reach the size of some of the biggest aquatic animals is because they aren’t being supported by water.
Chelonoidis is a genus of turtles in the tortoise family erected by Leopold Fitzinger in 1835. [2] They are found in South America and the Galápagos Islands, and formerly had a wide distribution in the West Indies. The multiple subspecies of the Galápagos tortoise (C. niger) are among the largest extant terrestrial chelonians.
The marine iguana (Amblyrhynchus cristatus) is also among the largest iguanas in the world, [78] and the largest reptile on Galapagos Islands after the Galapagos land iguana, not including turtles reaching a maximum total length of 1.4 m (4.59 ft), a SVL of from 12 till 56 cm (from 4.72 till 22 in) [82] [83] and a mass of from 1 to 12 kg (2.2 ...
In Britain, terrapin is used to refer to a larger group of semiaquatic turtles than the restricted meaning in America. [6] [9] Australian usage is different from both American and British usage. [8] Land tortoises are not native to Australia, and traditionally freshwater turtles have been called "tortoises" in Australia. [10]
The Santiago Island giant tortoise (Chelonoidis niger darwini), also known commonly as the Santiago giant tortoise [3] and the James Island tortoise, is a subspecies of Galápagos tortoise in the family Testudinidae.