Desert turtle
The Desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii), is a species of tortoise native to the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. Desert tortoises grow slowly and live about 50 to 80 years. They can tolerate water, salt, and energy imbalances on a daily basis, which increases their lifespans.
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DiurnalDiurnal animals are active during the daytime, with a period of sleeping or other inactivity at night. The timing of activity by an animal depends ...
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CrepuscularCrepuscular animals are those that are active primarily during twilight (that is, the periods of dawn and dusk). This is distinguished from diurnal...
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HerbivoreA herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example, foliage, for the main component of its die...
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FolivoreIn zoology, a folivore is a herbivore that specializes in eating leaves. Mature leaves contain a high proportion of hard-to-digest cellulose, less ...
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FrugivoreA frugivore is an animal that thrives mostly on raw fruits or succulent fruit-like produce of plants such as roots, shoots, nuts, and seeds. Approx...
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
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PrecocialPrecocial species are those in which the young are relatively mature and mobile from the moment of birth or hatching. Precocial species are normall...
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BurrowingA burrow is a hole or tunnel excavated into the ground by an animal to create a space suitable for habitation, temporary refuge, or as a byproduct ...
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FossorialA fossorial animal is one adapted to digging which lives primarily but not solely, underground. Some examples are badgers, naked mole-rats, clams, ...
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OviparousOviparous animals are female animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive...
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BrumationBrumation is a lethargic state that some ectothermic animals, such as many reptiles, assume during cold conditions. Reptiles generally begin brumat...
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PolygynandryPolygynandry is a mating system in which both males and females have multiple mating partners during a breeding season.
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Generally solitaryGenerally solitary animals are those animals that spend their time separately but will gather at foraging areas or sleep in the same location or sh...
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Dominance hierarchyA dominance hierarchy (formerly and colloquially called a pecking order) is a type of social hierarchy that arises when members of animal social gr...
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Not a migrantAnimals that do not make seasonal movements and stay in their native home ranges all year round are called not migrants or residents.
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AestivationAestivation is a state of animal dormancy, similar to hibernation, although taking place in the summer rather than the winter. Aestivation is chara...
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Desert DwellersA male Desert tortoise has a longer gular horn than a female and his plastron (lower shell) is concave compared to a female tortoise. Males also have larger tails than females do. Their shells are high-domed, and greenish-tan to dark brown in color. The high domes of their shells allow for space for their lungs, which helps Desert tortoises maintain thermoregulation, also known as maintaining internal temperature. Their front limbs have sharp, claw-like scales and are flattened for digging. Back legs are skinnier and very long.
Desert tortoises are native to the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico and the Sinaloan thorn scrub of northwestern Mexico. They are distributed in western Arizona, southeastern California, southern Nevada, and southwestern Utah. Desert tortoises live in different types of habitats, from sandy flats to rocky foothills. They prefer the Mojave Desert for alluvial fans, washes, and canyons where more suitable soils for den construction might be found. They can also be found in tropical deciduous forests, microphyll woodlands and valleys.
Desert tortoises spend most of their lives in burrows, rock shelters, and pallets to regulate body temperature and reduce water loss. Burrows are tunnels dug into soil by Desert tortoises or other animals. Males tend to occupy deeper burrows than females. The number of burrows used by tortoises varies from about 5 to 25 per year. They share burrows with various mammals, reptiles, birds, and invertebrates. One burrow can host up to 23 Desert tortoises, usually of opposite sexes. The activity of these turtles depends on location, peaking in late spring for the Mojave Desert and in late summer to fall in the Sonoran Desert; some populations exhibit two activity peaks during one year. Desert tortoises brumate during winters, roughly from November to February-April. Females begin brumation later and emerge earlier than males; juveniles emerge from brumation earlier than adults. Desert tortoises are often active late in the morning during spring and fall, early in the morning and late in the evening during the summer, and occasionally become active during relatively warm winter afternoons. Although Desert tortoises spend the majority of their time in the shelter, they may move up to 660 feet (200 m) per day. This time is spent foraging, traveling between burrows, and possibly mate-seeking or other social behaviors. Desert tortoises are generally solitary creatures. They may share a burrow to brumate but rarely will congregate with other tortoises within the same area. They communicate with the help of head-bobs, grunts, hisses, pops, and poink sounds.
Desert tortoises are herbivorous (folivorous, frugivorous) animals. Grasses form the bulk of their diet, but they also eat herbs, annual wildflowers, and new growth of cacti, as well as their fruit and flowers.
Desert tortoises are polygynandrous (promiscuous); males and females both have multiple mates. They mate in the spring and autumn. Males grow two large white glands around the chin area, called chin glands, that signify the mating season. Months after mating, the female lays a clutch of 4-8 hard-shelled eggs, which have the size and shape of ping-pong balls, usually in June or July. The eggs hatch in August or September. Wild tortoises produce up to three clutches a year depending on the climate. Their eggs incubate from 90 to 135 days; some eggs may overwinter and hatch the following spring. The length of the incubation period depends on the temperature, the same as the hatchling gender. After depositing her eggs females may guard their eggs for some time but then they leave and hatchlings will take care of themselves alone. Desert tortoises grow slowly, often taking 16 years or longer to reach about 8 in (20 cm) in length. They generally reach reproductive maturity at the age of 15-20 years, when they are longer than 7 in (18 cm).
The most significant threats to Desert tortoises include urbanization, disease, habitat destruction and fragmentation, illegal collection and vandalism by humans, and habitat conversion from invasive plant species. Ravens, Gila monsters, Kit foxes, badgers, roadrunners, coyotes, and Fire ants are all natural predators of Desert tortoises. They prey on eggs, juveniles, which are 2-3 inches long with a thin, delicate shell, or, in some cases, adults. Ravens are thought to cause significant levels of juvenile tortoise predation in some areas of the Mojave Desert - frequently near urbanized areas. Another potential threat to Desert tortoises' habitat is a series of proposed wind and solar farms. As a result of legislation, solar energy companies have been making plans for huge projects in the desert regions of Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, and Utah. Desert tortoise populations in some areas have declined by as much as 90% since the 1980s, and the Mojave population is listed as threatened. It is unlawful to touch, harm, harass, or collect wild Desert tortoises.
The IUCN Red List and other sources don’t provide the number of the Desert tortoise total population size. Currently, this species is classified as Vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List.
The Desert tortoise is the largest terrestrial turtle in the United States and is a very important species in the Mojave Desert ecosystem. Due to their burrowing habits, these turtles provide shelter for other animals. They also act as seed dispersers from eating various fruits, plants, and grasses.
