Tortoises are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines. Like other turtles, tortoises have a shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, and like other members of the suborder Cryptodira, they retract their necks and heads directly backward into the shell to protect them.
Giant tortoises are any of several species of various large land tortoises, which include a number of extinct species, as well as two extant species with multiple subspecies formerly common on the islands of the western Indian Ocean and on the Galápagos Islands.
The Pinta Island tortoise, also known as the Pinta giant tortoise, Abingdon Island tortoise, or Abingdon Island giant tortoise, is a recently extinct subspecies of Galápagos tortoise native to Ecuador's Pinta Island.
The Aldabra giant tortoise is a species of tortoise in the family Testudinidae and genus Aldabrachelys. The species is endemic to the Seychelles, with the nominate subspecies, A. g. gigantea native to Aldabra atoll. It is one of the largest tortoises in the world. Historically, giant tortoises were found on many of the western Indian Ocean islands, as well as Madagascar, and the fossil record indicates giant tortoises once occurred on every continent and many islands with the exception of Australia and Antarctica.
Geochelone is a genus of tortoises.
The Galápagos tortoise or Galápagos giant tortoise is a very large species of tortoise in the genus Chelonoidis. The species comprises 15 subspecies. It is the largest living species of tortoise, and can weigh up to 417 kg (919 lb). They are also the largest extant terrestrial cold-blooded animals (ectotherms).
Jean-Jacques Dussumier (1792–1883) was a French voyager and merchant from Bordeaux. He is known as a collector of zoological species from southern Asia and regions around the Indian Ocean between 1816 and 1840. These collections were later studied and classified by French zoologists such as Georges Cuvier, Achille Valenciennes, among others.
The Reunion giant tortoise is an extinct species of giant tortoise in the family Testudinidae. It was endemic to Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean.
Cylindraspis is a genus of recently extinct giant tortoises. All of its species lived in the Mascarene Islands in the Indian Ocean and all are now extinct due to hunting and introduction of non-native predators.
The saddle-backed Rodrigues giant tortoise is an extinct species of giant tortoise in the family Testudinidae. The species was endemic to Rodrigues. Human exploitation caused the extinction of this species around 1800.
The yellow-footed tortoise, also known as the Brazilian giant tortoise, is a species of tortoise in the family Testudinidae and is closely related to the red-footed tortoise. It is found in the Amazon Basin of South America. The species name has often been misspelled as denticulata, an error introduced in the 1980s when Chelonoidis was elevated to genus and mistakenly treated as feminine, an error recognized and fixed in 2017.
The Granitic Seychelles are the islands in Seychelles which lie in central position on the Seychelles Bank and are composed of granite rock. They make up the majority of the Inner Islands, which in addition include the coral islands along of the rim of the Seychelles Bank, namely Bird Island and Denis Island. The Granitic Seychelles contrast with the Coralline Seychelles or the Outer Islands, several island groups made up of low coral islands with dry, infertile soils.
Aldabrachampsus is an extinct genus of small horned crocodile known from fragmentary remains. It lived during the Pleistocene on Aldabra Atoll, Seychelles in the western Indian Ocean. The name Aldabrachampsus dilophus means "Two-crested crocodile from Aldabra". It was a small animal, reaching a length of 2–2.5 m, comparable in size to the smallest extant crocodilians.
August Friedrich Schweigger was a German naturalist born in Erlangen. He was the younger brother of scientist Johann Salomo Christoph Schweigger (1779-1857).
Aldabrachelys abrupta, the abrupt giant tortoise, is an extinct species of giant tortoise that was endemic to Madagascar.
Aldabrachelys grandidieri, or Grandidier's giant tortoise, is an extinct species of tortoise that was endemic to Madagascar. Mitochondrial DNA extracted from subfossil bone confirm that it is a distinct species.
Arnold's giant tortoise, also known as the Seychelles saddle-backed giant tortoise, is a tortoise subspecies in the genus Aldabrachelys.
The Seychelles giant tortoise, also known as the Seychelles domed giant tortoise, is a tortoise subspecies in the genus Aldabrachelys.
Giant tortoises are any of various large land tortoises
Astrochelys rogerbouri is an extinct tortoise species in the family Testudinidae which formerly lived in Madagascar.
