Radical Radiated Tortoise

Radical Radiated Tortoise The endangered animal that I decided to learn about was the Radiated Tortoise. I just thought that this animal would be interesting to find facts about. I found a lot of things about the Radiated Tortoise that I wouldn’t have guessed just by looking at it. I mainly picked this animal because turtles are my second favorite animal. I learned many different things such as what the tortoise eats, what habitat the tortoise lives in, fertilization, the physical appearance, why the Radiated Tortoise is decreasing in numbers, and many other facts that I found interesting. All of the facts I found from the different sites were very cool and different. I learned that grazing makes up about 80% of the Radiated Tortoise’s diet.

The tortoise prefers to live in dry areas of brush, thorns, forests, or the woodlands of Southern Madagascar. The tortoises only like to live in the dry areas with vegetation. The tortoises can be found in Southern Madagascar's spiny forests. “ The tortoise is restricted to southern areas of the Madagascar island.” (n.a. A-z animals.com). “ During cold weather tortoises are kept closely together.” (John L. Behler tortoise.org) It can vary on how many eggs from the female tortoise actually ends up hatching. Breeding also can depend on if the tortoise has an healthy diet. Breeding happens between the rainy spring months of March and June. “ Hatchlings emerge within a few weeks of one another at the onset of the next rains.” (n.a. eol.org). “ Eggs are laid only in the wet season.” (n.a

The pattern on the tortoise's back is often referred to as “The Star”. Due to the many shades of colors the tortoise often can appear to be the color of red or orange. The young radiated tortoises have a more white than yellow pattern. Tortoises commonly have a dark patch on top of their heads. All radiated tortoises have a high dome bumpy shell. The tortoise's shell is more pyramidal compared to normal tortoises. “ The tortoise has a average turtle shape, a domed carapace, blunt head, and the elephantine feet.” (n.a. animal diversity.org). The radiated tortoise is sometimes considered to be one of the most beautiful tortoises in the world. But as the individual's age, the darkly colored pigment washes out and creates a lighter colored