Seychelles giant tortoise
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
phylum | Chordata | The Seychelles giant tortoise has been thought to be extinct since the mid-19th century due to overexploitation on the granitic Seychelles islands. Similar giant tortoise species on other Indian Ocean islands such as Mauritius, Réunion, and Rodrigues Island are also extinct. This species inhabited islands of the Seychelles group, where it thrived on vegetation on the edges of marshes and streams. By 1840, it had disappeared from the wild and was assumed to be extinct. As a grazing species, it somewhat resembled the Aldabra giant tortoise with its domed shape.
For more information, visit the Wikipedia entry. Get back to Tortoises |
clade | Anapsida | |
order | Testudines | |
suborder | Cryptodira | |
family | Testudinidae | |
genus | Aldabrachelys | |
Species | A. gigantea | |
species | A. g. hololissa |