Chelonoidis alburyorum (SciiFii)

The Bahamas giant tortoise (Chelonoidis alburyorum) is a species of land tortoise that originally lived during the late Pleistocene from 0.012-0.0 million years ago and was once extinct, but has since been brought back from extinction by SciiFii and reintroduced to the Bahamas to help boost biodiversity. The Bahamas giant tortoise has a shell of 47 centimeters (19 inches) or 1.5 feet in length. The Bahamas giant tortoise eats many kinds of foliage. They are too slow to capture any fast animals. In the wild, their diets consist of grasses, fallen fruit, carrion, plants, bones, mushrooms, excrement, and slow-moving invertebrates such as snails, worms, and others they are able to capture. In captivity, they are fed oranges, apples, melons, endive, collard greens, dandelions, plantain, ribwort, clover, shredded carrots, insects, worms, cuttlebone, tortoise vitamins, edible flowers, and alfalfa pellets. Each Bahamas giant tortoise in the wild reaches the age of maturity at about 8–10 years. These tortoises make a sound like a baby cooing with a raspy voice. Bahamas giant tortoises also identify each other using body language. The male Bahamas giant tortoise makes head movements toward other males, but the female does not make these head movements. Male Bahamas giant tortoises also swing their heads back and forth in a continuous rhythm as a mating ritual. Mating occurs all year round for the Bahamas giant tortoise. There is no parental care of the young and the baby Bahamas giant tortoises will fend for themselves, starting by eating calcium-rich plant matter. The fecundity of a female generally depends on her size; the bigger they are, the more eggs they can produce. On average, a female will create about six to 16 eggs per year, although some female individuals may not reproduce each year. The eggs have brittle shells and are elongated to spherical, about 3–6 centimeters in diameter. The egg size will increase with the body size of the tortoise. The young are self-sufficient from birth. The Bahamas giant tortoise can live around 50–60 years. The conservation status of the Bahamas giant tortoise is Vulnerable due to some habitat loss and, historically, overcollection and invasive species, however, thanks to the conservationists, the Bahamas giant tortoise is a protected species and much of the invasive mammals like rats, feral dogs, feral cats, and mongooses have been eradicated from the Bahamas to preserve biodiversity on the Bahamas.
Category:Animals
Category:Species
Category:SciiFii