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Desert Tortoise — printable fact sheet
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Desert Tortoise
Gopherus agassizii
Gopherus agassizii of the Mojave spends about 95 percent of its life underground. Its burrow, dug with flattened, shovel-like forelimbs, can run several metres back into a bank, and it is the whole basis of the animal's survival: it buffers a surface that swings from below freez…
Did you know?
- Desert tortoises can retract their head and limbs into their shells, and if startled, may release stored urine as a defense mechanism, which can be detrimental to their own hydration if not handled with care.
- Subsidised ravens — attracted to human rubbish, roads and power poles — have become a major predator of juvenile tortoises, whose shells stay soft enough to puncture for their first five years. Desert tortoises have been recorded returning to the same burrow and the same rain basin across many years, implying detailed spatial memory. Their metabolic rate is low enough that they can survive on the water and energy content of dry vegetation for extended periods. A tortoise released from captivity into the wild can transmit an upper respiratory disease that has swept through wild populations, which is why relocating pets is illegal.
What I learned
Draw the desert tortoise
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