More Sponsored Links For:
tortoiseMost tortoises belong to the genus Testudo. Most famous are the giant tortoises of islands in the Indian Ocean (Testudo gigantea) and of the Galapagos islands (T. elephantopus). Galapagos tortoises may reach a length of over 4 ft (120 cm) and weigh over 500 lb (225 kg). There are about a dozen races of the Galapagos tortoise, most of them isolated on separate islands. These tortoises were a major source of meat for sailors in the 17th and 18th cent. and were often slaughtered wantonly. Once so abundant that the islands were named for them (galápago is Spanish for tortoise), they became extinct on some islands and were endangered on most of the others. The tortoises are now protected by law, and scientists from the Charles Darwin Research Station have bred some 2,000 and set free the different subspecies on the islands from which they came.
North American tortoises, genus Gopherus, are burrowing forms with flattened feet and heavy nails. Three of the four species are very similar. The desert tortoise, Gopherus agassizii, inhabits deserts from S Nevada to NW Mexico; the Texas tortoise, G. berlandieri, lives in arid brush country and open woods from S Texas to NE Mexico; the gopher tortoise, G. polyphemus, is found in high, sandy areas of Florida and the U.S. Gulf and Atlantic coasts. The desert and gopher tortoises reach a length of 13 in. (33 cm), while the Texas tortoise is about 8 1/2 in. (21.6 cm) long. The Mexican tortoise, G. flavomarginatus, is a large species of NW Mexico. It has been much used for food, and the survival of the species is threatened.
Tortoises are extremely long-lived; there are authenticated cases of individuals living over 150 years. They are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Reptilia, order Chelonia, family Testudinidae.
The Columbia Encyclopedia. Copyright © 2001-09 Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
- Lyra
Lyra [Lat.,=the lyre], northern constellation lying S of Draco, E of Hercules, and W of Cygnus. Although many civilizations represented it as a bird, it was also depicted as a tortoise. The wh...
- Aesop
Aesop, legendary Greek fabulist. According to Herodotus, he was a slave who lived in Samos in the 6th cent. B.C. and eventually was freed by his master. Other accounts associate him with many ...
- Scudder, Janet
Scudder, Janet, 1873–1940, American sculptor, b. Terre Haute, Ind., studied at the Art Academy of Cincinnati, with Lorado Taft at the Art Institute of Chicago, and in Paris. Her fountains and ...
- Vishnu
Vishnu, one of the greatest gods of Hinduism, also called Narayana. First mentioned in the Veda as a minor deity, his theistic cults, known as Vaishnavism, or Vishnuism, grew steadily from the...
- Rexroth, Kenneth
Rexroth, Kenneth, 1905–82, American poet, critic, and translator, b. South Bend, Ind. A resident of San Francisco, he was briefly associated with the beat generation, although he disdained the...
- yam
Yam, common name for some members of the Dioscoreaceae, a family of tropical and subtropical climbing herbs or shrubs with starchy rhizomes often cultivated for food. The largest genus, Diosco...
-
turtle
Turtle, a reptile of the order Chelonia, with strong, beaked, toothless jaws and, usually, an armorlike shell. The shell normally consists of bony plates overlaid with horny shields. The upper...
- Galápagos Islands
Galápagos Islands [Span.,=tortoises], archipelago and province (1990 pop. 9,785), 3,029 sq mi (7,845 sq km), Ecuador, in the Pacific Ocean c.650 mi (1,045 km) W of South America on the equator...
- Bougainville
Bougainville, volcanic island (1990 est. pop. 154,000), c.3,880 sq mi (10,050 sq km), SW Pacific, largest in the Solomon Islands chain. With Buka and smaller neighboring islands, it forms an a...
- aging
Aging, in biology, cumulative changes in an organism, organ, tissue, or cell leading to a decrease in functional capacity. In humans, aging is associated with degenerative changes in the skin,...
