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Giant Tortoise
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. History As of March 2022, two different species of giant tortoise are found on two remote groups of tropical islands: Aldabra, Aldabra Atoll and Fregate Island in the Seychelles and the Galápagos Islands in Ecuador. These tortoises can weigh as much as and can grow to be long. Giant tortoises originally made their way to islands from the mainland via oceanic dispersal. Tortoises are aided in such dispersal by their ability to float with their heads up and to survive for up to six months without food or fresh water. Giant tortoises were once all placed in a single genus (often referred to as ''Testudo'' or ''Geochelone''), but more recent studies have shown that giant tortoises represent several distinct lineages th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tortoise
Tortoises () are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin: ''tortoise''). Like other turtles, tortoises have a turtle shell, 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. Tortoises can vary in size with some species, such as the Galápagos tortoise, Galápagos giant tortoise, growing to more than in length, whereas others like the Chersobius signatus, Speckled cape tortoise have shells that measure only long. Several lineages of tortoises Giant tortoise, have independently evolved very large body sizes in excess of 100 kg, including the Galápagos tortoise, Galapagos giant tortoise and the Aldabra giant tortoise. They are usually Diurnality, diurnal animals with tendencies to be crepuscular depending on the ambient temperatures. They are generally reclusive animals. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manouria
''Manouria'' is a genus of tortoises in the family Testudinidae. The genus was erected by John Edward Gray in 1854. Species The following five species are recognized as being valid, two of which are extant, and three of which are extinct: *''Manouria emys'' – Asian forest tortoise *''Manouria impressa'' – impressed tortoise *†''Manouria sondaari'' – a giant land tortoise from Luzon Island, PhilippinesStaesche, Ulrich (coordinator) (2007). ''Fossile Schildkröten aus vier Ländern in drei Kontinenten: Deutschland, Türkei, Niger, Philippen'' Fossil Turtles from Four Countries on Three Continents: Germany, Turkey, Niger, and the Philippines ''Geologisches Jahrbuch, Reihe B, Heft 98'' Series B, Issue 98 197 pp. . http://www.schweizerbart.de/publications/detail/artno/186029800 (in German). however, Rhodin et al. (2015) transferred this species to the genus ''Megalochelys''. *†''Manouria punjabiensis'' – a fossil tortoise from Siwaliks, India *†''Manouria oyamai' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eurasia
Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago and the Russian Far East to the east. The continental landmass is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and Africa to the west, the Pacific Ocean to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and by Africa, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Indian Ocean to the south. The division between Europe and Asia as two continents is a historical social construct, as many of their borders are over land; thus, in some parts of the world, Eurasia is recognized as the largest of the six, five, or four continents on Earth. In geology, Eurasia is often considered as a single rigid megablock. However, the rigidity of Eurasia is debated based on paleomagnetic data. Eurasia covers around , or around 36.2% of the Earth's total land area. It is also home to the largest ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cenozoic
The Cenozoic ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterised by the dominance of mammals, birds and flowering plants, a cooling and drying climate, and the current configuration of continents. It is the latest of three geological eras since complex life evolved, preceded by the Mesozoic and Paleozoic. It started with the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, when many species, including the non-avian dinosaurs, became extinct in an event attributed by most experts to the impact of a large asteroid or other celestial body, the Chicxulub impactor. The Cenozoic is also known as the Age of Mammals because the terrestrial animals that dominated both hemispheres were mammalsthe eutherians (placentals) in the northern hemisphere and the metatherians (marsupials, now mainly restricted to Australia) in the southern hemisphere. The extinction of many groups allowed mammals and birds to greatly diversify so that l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quaternary Extinction Event
The Quaternary period (from 2.588 ± 0.005 million years ago to the present) has seen the extinctions of numerous predominantly megafaunal species, which have resulted in a collapse in faunal density and diversity and the extinction of key ecological strata across the globe. The most prominent event in the Late Pleistocene is differentiated from previous Quaternary pulse extinctions by the widespread absence of ecological succession to replace these extinct species, and the regime shift of previously established faunal relationships and habitats as a consequence. The earliest casualties were incurred at 130,000 BCE (the start of the Late Pleistocene), in Australia ~ 60,000 years ago, in Americas ~ 15,000 years ago, coinciding in time with the early human migrations. However, the great majority of extinctions in Afro-Eurasia and the Americas occurred during the transition from the Pleistocene to the Holocene epoch (13,000 BCE to 8,000 BCE). This extinction wave di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Island Gigantism
Island gigantism, or insular gigantism, is a biological phenomenon in which the size of an animal species isolated on an island increases dramatically in comparison to its mainland relatives. Island gigantism is one aspect of the more general "island effect" or "Foster's rule", which posits that when mainland animals colonize islands, small species tend to evolve larger bodies, and large species tend to evolve smaller bodies (insular dwarfism). This is itself one aspect of the more general phenomenon of island syndrome which describes the differences in morphology, ecology, physiology and behaviour of insular species compared to their continental counterparts. Following the arrival of humans and associated introduced predators (dogs, cats, rats, pigs), many giant as well as other island endemics have become extinct. A similar size increase, as well as increased woodiness, has been observed in some insular plants. Possible causes Large mammalian carnivores are often absent on isl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Titanochelon
''Titanochelon'' is an extinct genus of giant tortoises known from the Early Miocene to the beginning of the Pleistocene in Europe, extending from the Iberian Peninsula to Anatolia. Some members of the genus were larger than extant giant tortoises, with a shell length of up to . Taxonomy There are approximately 10 known species in the genus, most of which were originally assigned to '' Testudo'' (a genus which formally encompassed almost all fossil tortoises) or '' Cheirogaster,'' the type species of which, ''Cheirogaster maurini'' is known from the Eocene of France and is quite different to the species assigned to ''Titanochelon''. After a major systematic revision in 2014, the genus ''Titanochelon'' was created to house these related species.Hans Volker Karl, Ulrich Staesche, Amtyaz Safi New findings of neogene tortoises ''Titanochelon kayadibiensis'' sp. nov. and ''Protestudo bessarabica'' (Riabinin, 1918) (Testudinidae) from the Miocene of western Turkey, with a review of fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Megalochelys
''Megalochelys'' ("great turtle") is an extinct genus of cryptodiran tortoises that lived from the Miocene to Pleistocene. They are noted for their giant size, which is among the largest of any known testudine, with a maximum carapace length over 2 m (6.5 ft) in ''M. atlas''. During the dry glacial periods it ranged from western India and Pakistan (possibly even as far west as southern and eastern Europe) to as far east as Sulawesi and Timor in Indonesia, though the island specimens likely represent distinct species. Description One species of ''Megalochelys,'' ''M. atlas'', is the largest known tortoise, with a shell length of and even , and an approximate total height of . Popular weight estimates for this taxon have varied greatly with the highest estimates reaching up to in some instances.Orenstein, R. 2001. Survivors in Armor: Turtles, Tortoises, and Terrapins. Key Porter Books Ltd. However, weights based on volumetric displacement of the skeleton,Brown, B. 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Before Present
Before Present (BP) years, or "years before present", is a time scale used mainly in archaeology, geology and other scientific disciplines to specify when events occurred relative to the origin of practical radiocarbon dating in the 1950s. Because the "present" time changes, standard practice is to use 1 January 1950 as the commencement date (epoch) of the age scale. The abbreviation "BP" has been interpreted retrospectively as "Before Physics", which refers to the time before nuclear weapons testing artificially altered the proportion of the carbon isotopes in the atmosphere, which scientists must now account for. In a convention that is not always observed, many sources restrict the use of BP dates to those produced with radiocarbon dating; the alternative notation RCYBP stands for the explicit "radio carbon years before present". Usage The BP scale is sometimes used for dates established by means other than radiocarbon dating, such as stratigraphy. This usage differs from t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hesperotestudo
''Hesperotestudo'' ("Western turtle") is an extinct genus of tortoise native to North and Central America from the Oligocene to the Late Pleistocene. Species of ''Hesperotesudo'' varied widely in size, with the largest unnamed species from El Salvador reaching in carapace length, larger than that of extant giant tortoises. Historically considered a subgenus of ''Geochelone'', it is now considered to be distantly related to that genus. Its closest relatives are the extant ''Gopherus'' (gopher tortoises) and the extinct '' Stylemys.'' The ancestor of the three genera arrived in North America during the Early Eocene. The bodies of ''Hesperotesudo'' species were extensively covered with large dermal ossicles, which in life were covered in keratin. It has been suggested that species of ''Hesperotestudo'' were relatively tolerant of cold weather. ''Hesperotestudo'' became extinct at the end of the Pleistocene and beginning of the Holocene co-incident with the arrival of the first huma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chelonoidis
''Chelonoidis'' is a genus of turtles in the tortoise family erected by Leopold Fitzinger in 1835. They are found in South America and the Galápagos Islands, and formerly had a wide distribution in the West Indies. The multiple subspecies of the Galápagos tortoise are among the largest extant terrestrial chelonians. Giant members of the genus, such as Lutz's giant tortoise (''C. lutzae'') were also present in mainland South America and the West Indies during the Pleistocene. Taxonomy They were formerly assigned to ''Geochelone'', but a 2006 genetic analysis indicated that they were actually most closely related to hingeback tortoises. However, a more recent genetic analysis of mtDNA has found that they are actually most closely related to the lineage containing ''Centrochelys'' and ''Geochelone''. Their ancestors apparently floated across the Atlantic from Africa to South America in the Oligocene. This crossing was made possible by their ability to float with their heads u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
African Spurred Tortoise
The African spurred tortoise (''Centrochelys sulcata''), also called the sulcata tortoise, is a species of tortoise inhabiting the southern edge of the Sahara desert in Africa. It is the largest mainland species of tortoise in the world, and the third-largest in the world. It is the last remaining species in its genus, Centrochelys, with the five other species in the family already extinct. Taxonomy and etymology The African spurred tortoise is apart of the: * Animalia kingdom * Bilateral Subkingdom * Deuterostomia Infrakingdom * Chordata Phylum * Vertebrata Subphylum * Gnathostomata Infraphylum * Tetrapoda superclass * Reptilia class * Testudines order * Crytodira suborder * Testudinoidea superfamily * Testudinidae family * Centrochelys genus The taxonomic species name is Centrochelys sulcata and is otherwise known as C. sulcata. Its specific name ''sulcata'' is from the Latin word ''sulcus'' meaning "furrow" and refers to the furrows on the tortoise's scales. At first the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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