by Beth Benson

Created on: July 06, 2008

Weighing in at over 600 pounds and living more than 150 years is the largest and oldest living tortoise, the Giant Tortoise of the Galapagos Islands. At one time, this large tortoise had 13 subspecies, but due to extinction, there are only 11 subspecies of the Giant Tortoise alive in the wild.

The Galapagos Islands are of volcanic origin and rose from the sea after a large amount of volcanic activity millions of years ago and is now one of the most popular resting places for 11 species of Giant Tortoises, approximately around 15,000.

These Giant Tortoises are big, with their large shells made entirely of bone, which are fused with their ribs and other bones to form this protective layer. This large shell is their main source of protection, whenever threatened by a predator, like all turtles, they would retract their legs and head into their shell for protection. The Giant Tortoise even has protective heavy scales on its legs to help against a predator's attack, if by chance the tortoise isn't fast enough to retreat into his shell.

Giant Tortoises are one of many animals that bask in the sun and absorb its energy. Because they are cold blooded animals, they spend two to three hours after sunrise to soak in all the sun's energy through their shells to energize themselves and become very active for about nine hours a day. However, due to their size, they tend to be very slow and tend to walk only about 0.18 mph. During the daylight hours, the Giant Tortoise will feed on grass, leaves, fruit, as well as the poisonous apple, which is deadly to humans but a favorite by the Giant Tortoise.

All of this activity for such a large animal can normally result in them to sleep for about 16 hours each day in depressions in the ground created by the tortoises, or wallowing in a pool.

Of the remaining 11 species of Giant Tortoises, all of them fall into one of three types of categories based on their shells and their location on the Galapagos Islands. The first is the Saddle-Backed. This tortoise is mostly found on the lower, drier islands and their necks and legs are longer, and their shells are raised off of their bodies. Second is the Dome-Shaped, this tortoise type is found on the upper parts of the Galapagos Islands and normally hide out where there is a lot of thick plan growth. Their shells are round and their necks and legs are fairly short. The last is the Intermediate which is a mix between the Dome-Shaped and the Saddle-Backed.

The species that has been getting the most

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