The Longest Living Animal on the Planet

Appearance

Tortoises are cold-blooded animals which means that they need their environment to be warm for them to stay warm. They have high domed-shaped shells. Like many other turtles, tortoises retract their heads into their shells for protection Their shells have 59 to 61 bones. Tortoiseshells are made from keratin, just like our nails. And just like our nails, tortoises can sense pain through their shells. Tortoises have no teeth, but their sharp beak can break up food and other matter. To determine the gender of a tortoise you can examine its tail. Females' tail is shorter than males and their tail is dropped straight down. Males have longer tails and keep pulled up or to the side of their shells. 

Diet

Tortoises eat leaves, grasses, fungi, vegetables, and more. Most species of tortoise or herbivores but some species can be omnivores. Tortoises can eat fungi, clovers, grass, aloe, barley, hay, grains, mushrooms, melons, apples, pears, and a bunch more fruit and vegetables. Omnivores tortoises can eat millipedes, earthworms, snails. slugs, and carrion. Tortoises use their sense of smell to find food from far places. They also have great eyesight when it comes to searching for food at night. Since tortoises are very slow-moving animals they take a lot of time searching for food. They tend to find food close to their burrow (less than a hundred feet away).

Habitat

Tortoises live in every continent except for Australia and Antarctica. Some species live across southern North America through southern South America.  They can also be found in Pacific Islands. Also in Eurasia, in sub-Saharan Africa, across the Mediterranean basin, and on Madagascar. Tortoises prefer semi-arid climates. But they can live from dry deserts to tropical rainforests. They can either live at sea level or on mountain terrains. 

Reproduction

Most tortoise species mate throughout the year. Females use their back legs to dig holes as nests. After, they lay her eggs in it and cover it with soil, sand, and other materials. The incubation time is 100 days to 160 days. The eggs are left unattended. When a tortoise hatches it uses egg teeth to break out of a tiny egg. Once they hatch they make their way to their mother's burrow. They have an egg sac that gives them nutrition for about a week. Females take care of their young for 3 months. Tortoises live from 30 to 150 years old.

Thank you for reading, I hope you learned so much about this cool and awesome animal. I can't believe the longest living tortoise was 255 years old! Go to my youtube channel the link is below. 

The Informative Zoologist