TORTOISES

1. Slow, but AmazingSpecies TORTOISES By: AD

2. INTRODUCTION • The tortoises scientific name is the testudinidae • Tortoises have thick lumpy legs • Tortoises are brown and green for protection • Tortoises can grow from 9 to 15 feet long • Tortoises can sometimes have dome shape shells

3. What Tortoises Look Like • The tortoises has a large and thick shell on its back • The tortoises has a small and round shaped head • The tortoise has very thick lumpy legs • The tortoise has a very small pointy beak so it can eat thick plants • The tortoise has very medium sized eyes

4. This is a Tortoise as a young baby Life Span • Tortoises usually can live from 50 to 80 sometimes even 100 to 150 years • When a tortoise is near the end of its life and is fully grown it starts to make burrows that other animals might live in the future This is a tortoise growing up and is about have way through its life This is a tortoise that is about 120 years old and just about at the end of its life

5. Are Tortoises Endangered??? • Tortoises are endangered there are about 100,000 left in the world! • And their numbers are still dropping because humans continuously take their skin for clothes. This is a tortoise eating foam witch can kill them

6. Climate • Tortoises can usually be found in hot, dry climates • Why do are they found in hot places? Because they love it!! • Tortoises can sometimes even live in places that are 100 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit.

7. Habitat and Landforms • Tortoises can be found in one of three main places like jungles, mountains and deserts. • Tortoises live in lots of landforms these are the landforms that they live in: • Large canyons • Moutons • Desserts • Grass lands • Jungles

8. Predator/Prey Prey Predator The tortoises has many predators: like humans Ravens gila monsters kit foxes badgers Roadrunners coyotes and fire ants those are all natural predators • The tortoises does not have prey because it is a herbivore and it eats plants. These are two predators of tortoises.

9. Food • Tortoises are herbivores so they eats plants • Some of the plants that tortoises eat are • herbs • grasses • some shrubs and • the new growth of cacti and their flowers

10. Behavior/Behavioral Adaptations • The tortoises is able to live where ground temperatures may exceed to 140 degrees f. • The reason that the tortoise can live in these temperatures is because they can dig under ground burros to escape heat. • Tortoises are most active at night to survive heat.

11. Physical Adaptations The tortoises large thick shell allows it to hide inside when there is cold weather or a predator is by Tortoises have thick lumpy legs so when it walks it is slow Tortoises have thick leg bones so it wont hurt as much when something hits it

12. Babies • The female tortoise digs nesting burros • The tortoise can lay from 1 to 30 eggs at the most • Egg laying is usually at night • It takes about 60 to 120 days to incubate and hatch • When a tortoise is born their parents stay with them for 3 to 10 months then they leave • When a baby tortoise is born it can be from 1 to 3 feet long.

13. Physiological Adaptations • The tortoises has very flexible bones so they can go inside it’s shell • Tortoises have very thick and heavy bones which is why they are very slow but it protects them from the hot, dry climate and predators.

14. Fun Facts • When tortoises are old and large it will begin to dig very large burrows in the ground for shelter that other animals might live in the future • Tortoises are the slowest animals • Tortoises have very thick shells