livinginoblivion on DeviantArthttps://www.deviantart.com/livinginoblivion/art/Geochelone-gigantea-62535230livinginoblivion

Deviation Actions

livinginoblivion's avatar

Geochelone gigantea

Published:
751 Views

Description

The Aldabra Giant Tortoise (Geochelone gigantea), from the islands of the Aldabra Atoll in the Seychelles, is one of the largest tortoises in the world. Similar in size to the famous Galapagos Giant Tortoise, its carapace averages 120 cm (47 inches) in length. The average weight of a male is around 250 kg (551 pounds), but one male at the Fort Worth Zoological Park weighs over 360 kg (793 pounds). This species is widely referred to as Geochelone gigantea but is now placed in the genus Dipsochelys (or sometimes in the invalid genus Aldabrachelys) as Dipsochelys dussumieri.It has stocky, heavily scaled legs to support its heavy body. The neck of the Aldabra Giant Tortoise is very long, even for its great size, which helps the animal to exploit tree branches up to a meter from the ground as a food source.
Large tortoises are among the longest-lived animals on the planet. Some individual Aldabra Giant Tortoises are thought to be over 100 years of age, but this is difficult to verify because they tend to outlive their human observers. Adwaitya (The One and Only) was reputedly one of four brought by British seamen from the Seychelles Islands as gifts to Robert Clive of the British East India Company in the 18th century and came to Kolkata Zoo in 1875. At its death in March 2006 at the Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) Zoo in India, Adwaitya is reputed to have reached the longest ever measured life-span of 255 years (birth year 1750), although the accuracy of this is disputed due to a lack of contemporary records. Today, Esmeralda is thought to be the oldest living Giant Tortoise at 170 years old, since the death of Hariet at 176, a Galapagos giant tortoise. Esmeralda is an Aldabra Giant Tortoise.

For my dear and favorite dA friend Kim ..:iconkimantha333:
Image size
800x567px 338.68 KB
Make
Canon
Model
Canon EOS 20D
Shutter Speed
1/60 second
Aperture
F/5.0
Focal Length
235 mm
ISO Speed
400
Date Taken
Jul 5, 2006, 3:44:50 PM
© 2007 - 2024 livinginoblivion
Comments47
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
love this shot,
love these creatures,
just got myself a 3 yr old pair