Friday, December 2, 2011

Wonderful Tortoise Facts About the Creatures That Live Within Their Shells

By Alan Stables


There are plenty of tortoise facts to learn with beautiful nature surrounding them. A few reptiles can outperform tortoises and turtles when it comes to their lifespan. American box turtles are widely known for their life span of over one hundred years.

Regardless of a turtle's age, they organs are efficient throughout their lifetime. There are around 40 different types of over 250 varies species that make up the turtle families.

The most popular ones known to be found are Mediterranean tortoises, the Aldabran tortoises, Galapagos tortoises, the, the red foot tortoises, the desert tortoises, the hinge back tortoises, the yellow foot tortoises and the Russian tortoises.

Some turtles are extremely big like the leatherback turtle. This specific turtle has the ability to grow up to 8 feet tall and can weigh as much as over 800 kilograms making it also the heaviest turtle ever. Dramatically, the smallest of this family can grow as less as 4 inches tall and weigh just above a hundred grams.

The shells on these turtles provide protection. Their shells allow them to pull themselves in and out of their shells for protection.

The upper part of their body shield if effective. It is called the carapace while the inner side is known as the plastron. In total, it compromises about sixty bones and is attached to the spinal cords of tortoises. Many shells are dome-shaped high carapaces.

The pancake tortoise found in eastern Africa is an exception as it is believed to inflate and extract air depending on the surroundings and situations. Most experts also believe that it is due to these shells that tortoises have really long lifespan.

Tortoises make great pets but may prove to be some of the most terrestrial animals out there. Learn the tortoise facts for your future reference.




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