Did You Know?

 

• World Turtle Day is the 23 May. The purpose of World Turtle Day, is to bring attention to, and increase knowledge of and respect for, turtles and tortoises, and encourage human action to help them survive and thrive. 

 

• A gathering of tortoises is often referred to as a herd but officially a group of tortoises is called a CREEP.

 

•  Tortoises is the common name for some shelled reptiles, of the order Chelonia, specifically Testudindae.

 

•  Aldabra giant tortoises have at least 4 different scientific names but the two most common species names are Aldabrachelys Gigantea and Dipsochelys Dussurriieri.

 

• Tortoise are reptiles and as Ectothermic beings they need sunlight to regulate their temperature.

 

• They are Diurnal meaning the move around during the day, and sleep at night. As they are reptiles they need sunshine to warm up and will spend many hours of the day just basking.

 

•   They can survive many months without food or water, which is why they were taken by sailors, so that they could have fresh meat during their long voyages.

 

• Male Aldabra tortoises can weigh over a quarter of a tonne (250KG) but adult females will be a 100kg, or more, lighter.

 

• The heaviest known, free roaming, (wild) Aldabra tortoise ever recorded was a male who tipped the scales at 305kg. However, there is a male currently living at Fort Worth Zoo in Texas USA, who reportedly weighs 363kg.

 

• Approx 1/3 of the shell volume is dedicated to the lungs.

 

• Aldabra tortoises can retract their heads and long necks into their shells, by a vertical 'Z' fold of their 8 neck vertebrae. Most tortoises only have 5 neck vertebrae, which form an 'S' shape.

 

• In theory Aldabra’s can retract all of their limbs into their shell as protection but as they do not have any natural predators, other than man, it is not something that they would normally do. Smaller species of tortoises are all in the food chain and so they are much more skittish and liable to pull in at the first sign of trouble.

 

• A tortoise is a vertebrate animal. It's backbone is fused to the inside of its upper shell.

 

• Tortoises cannot cough!

 

• Aldabra Giant tortoise are classed as vulnerable unlike Galapagos Giant tortoise, which are an endangered species.

 

• There used to be 12 species of Giant tortoise in the world. Unfortunately, Huge numbers of tortoises were removed from the Indian Ocean islands during the 17^th and 18^th Centuries. This plunder lead to the extinction of many other giant tortoise species. There are now only 3 species left- The Galapagos, The Aldabra and the Sulcata.

 

•   In the early 1900's there was a custom in the Seychelles to mark off a young tortoise when a child was born, and to eat that tortoise on the child's wedding day.

 

• In 1968 the Soviet Unions Zond 5 spacecraft was the first to circle the moon and return safely to Earth. The Russian Horsefield Tortoise on board lost 10% of their body weight but were still ready for a meal when they touched down. ‘One Giant Leap For Tortoise Kind!’

 

• Aldabra Giant tortoises have evolved the ability to drink through their nose. At times water is so scarce that they have to make the most of access to every last drop.

 

• In the 17th Century, an Italian Scientist chopped the head off a tortoise and it lived for 23 days. He also removed a brain from a Tortoise and it lived for 6 months!

 

•  On Aldabra, the biomass (total weight of organism in a given area) of Aldabra tortoises is calculated to be between 3. 5 - 58 tonnes per square kilometre.

 

• Aldabras in the wild consume 26 million lbs or 11.8 million kg of plant matter each year.

 

• Land tortoises (Testudinidae) arose around 55 million years ago, and are part of the oldest surviving reptile lineage.

 

• In some sub species of Aldabras, their long neck allows the males to reach foliage that is 3.3 feet away.

 

• The Galapagos Giant Tortoise is the 13th largest reptile alive today.

 

• The heaviest Galapagos tortoise known, was Goliath and he weighed 417kg.

 

• Tortoises are Cryptodidian, which means it pulls its head directly back into its shell, rather than folding it sideways and tucking it under the Marginal Scutes, like animals such as the Eastern Long Necked Turtle.