The Aldabra Giant Tortoise is a giant species of Tortoisenative to the Aldabra Islands in the Indian ocean. The Aldabra giant tortoise is one of the largest species ofTortoise on the planet and is also one of the world's longest living animals, with one Aldabra Giant Tortoiseindividual reaching the grand old age of 255 years old. The Aldabra Giant Tortoise is the only Indian ocean giant Tortoise species alive today as others have now become extinct with the arrival of Human settlers (including the Seychelles Giant Tortoise which is now thought to be extinct in the wild). The Aldabra Giant Tortoise and the Seychelles GiantTortoise are so similar in both appearance and behaviour that they are actually thought by some to be the same species.

 

 

The Aldabra Giant Tortoise has an enormous dome-shaped shell which acts as protective armor to the soft, vulnerable body of the Aldabra Giant Tortoise underneath. The aldabra  Giant Tortoise also has an incredibly long neck which it uses to tear leaves from the branches higher up trees. The male aldabra Giant Tortoise grows to an average size of 1.1 meters long, with females being slightly smaller at a length of 0.9 meters. The males, although not really that much bigger, are also known to weigh nearly 100 kg more than their female counterparts. They are slow-moving animals with thick, short legs and round, almost flat feet that help them when they are walking on the sand.

 

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Testudines
Family:	Testudinidae
Genus:	Geochelone
Scientific Name:	Geochelone gigantea
Common Name:	Aldabra Giant Tortoise
Other Name(s):	Giant Tortoise