Tortoise

A tortoise is a reptile of the order Testudines which lives on land.  Like their aquatic cousins, the sea turtles, tortoises are shielded from predators by a shell. Most are quite small, but island tortoises have several times evolved to a large size: those on the Galapagos are famous. Darwin made one of his rare mistakes when he did not note which island each of them came from. Later it became clear that they were slightly different on different islands. The name may have it's etymology from Tartarus for its deep origin

tortoise shells take really long time to decompose 

 Further reading 
 Chambers, Paul. A sheltered life: the unexpected history of the giant tortoise. John Murray (Publishers), London. 2004. .
 Gerlach, Justin.  Giant tortoises of the Indian Ocean.  Chimiara publishers, Frankfurt.  2004

 Gallery 

Related pages
 Turtle
 Sea turtle

 References 

 Other websites 

 Gulf Coast Turtle and Tortoise Society* Tortoise World - Several Types of Tortoises 
 Chelonia: Conservation and Care of Turtles.
 Infotortuga

Category:Turtles