Desert Tortoise

 

 

ANIAMAL REPORT

 

 

 

COMMON NAME-Tortoise

 

WHERE FOUND-BOIME: Desert                              

                                                                               CLASS- Reptilia

 

GENUS- Gopherus

 

SPECIES- Agassizii                                                 

 

 

 

• The tortoises body covering is a hard dry shell.

 

•  A average length (carapace) 9-18 inches. A common height is about 4-6 inches. An average weight depends on a 10 - 25 pounds.

 

•  Tortoise's live in a hot, dry places. Their scally skin can keep its inside wet enough and also can handle the heat well.

 

• Its geographic range is Southern Nevada, Arizona through Mexico, southeastern California, and Mojave and Sonoran deserts.

 

                                                                          

  (this picture is around an average size tortoise) 

 Thiese are locations of deserts where tortoise's live.

 

 

• A desert is Ectothermic. Ecothermic means cold blooded.

 

•   Tortoises are herbivores which mean it does not prey on any animal. It eats grasses, leaves, and any plants in the desert, the catcus' flowers.

 

• Although other animals do prey on teh desert tortoise. they are the toroises predator. Roadrunners, Kit Foxes, Coyotes, and some others eat the desert tortoise. These animals will try to eat the tortoise but its hard shell will help protect its body.

 

Here is a food web to make it easier to know its food web. It shows you what it eats, and what it's getting eaten by.

 

 

 

 

 

• When tortoises are in a group together it is called a bale. 

 

• Two related species are hte Berlandier and the Gopher toroise.

 

•  The desert tortoise usually tries to live close to desert honey bees to protect them. They also sometimes even travel with them. The tortoises will not be harmed nor helped. This is called a commensalisms symbiotic relationship. A commensalisms is one or the three symbiotic relation ships. The other two are called mutualism and parasitesm. You would rather be or have the mutualism because parasitism will harm you very bad.

 

• desert toroises do use communications just like us. Theu use their vocoles to vocolive, posturing and mught use fences and anal gland to mark its home range.

 

INTERESTING AND UNUSUAL BEHAVIORS

 

You might think tortoises don't fight but they do! Exspecially males. Sometimes it can be over a female. They can also live up to 150 years! But since global warming, by humans and other things going on, about 120 years old. But that is still very old.

 

ALL TORTOISES ARE ENDANGERED!

Whalers colonist killed over 10,000 tortoises for meat and oil during the 20th centry! So please help the tortoises and save their lives, it will feel good to know you saved a tortoises life.

 

 

 

MY INTERNET SORCES:

http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Gopherus_agassizii.html

 

http://www.desertusa.com/june96/du_tort.html

 

MY BOOK SORCES:

our science book on page A131, copy righted (c) 2007 by Houghton Mifflin Company.

 

Desert Animals by Jen Green page 15, copy righted by 2000.