GIANT TORTOISE & TURTLES [ Wildlife Nature Documentary ]

Giant Tortoise & Tutles [Wildlife Nature Documentary HD] mating Giant tortoises are characteristic reptiles of certain tropical islands. Often reaching enormous size—they can weigh as much as 300 kg (660 lbs) and can grow to be 1.3 m (4 ft) long—they live, or lived (some species are recently extinct), in the Seychelles, the Mascarenes and the Galapagos. Giant Tortoise & Tutles [Wildlife Nature Documentary HD] mating Today, the world's largest population inhabits Aldabra Atoll in Seychelles, where there are approximately 150,000 individuals. Although appearing similar, the tortoises represent separate branches of evolution. The Seychelles and Mascarenes tortoises derive from nearby Madagascar, while the Galapagos tortoises came from nearby Ecuador. Galápagos tortoise, Giant Tortoise on Santa Cruz Island (Galápagos) Giant Tortoise & Tutles [Wildlife Nature Documentary HD] mating Although often considered examples of island gigantism, prior to the arrival of Homo sapiens giant tortoises also occurred in non-island locales, as well as on a number of other, more accessible islands. During the Pleistocene, and mostly during the last 50,000 years, tortoises of the mainland of southern Asia (Colossochelys atlas), North and South America, Australia (Meiolania), Indonesia, Madagascar (Dipsochelys), and even the island of Malta became extinct. Giant Tortoise & Tutles [Wildlife Nature Documentary HD] mating The giant tortoises formerly of Africa died out somewhat earlier, during the late Pliocene. While the timing of the disappearances of various extinct giant tortoise species seems to correlate with the arrival of humans, direct evidence for human involvement in these extinctions is usually lacking; however, such evidence has been obtained in the case of Meiolania damelipi in Vanuatu. One interesting relic is the shell of an extinct giant tortoise found in a submerged sinkhole in Florida with a wooden spear piercing it, carbon dated to 12,000 years ago. Giant Tortoise & Tutles [Wildlife Nature Documentary HD] mating