![]() The islands comprise 13 major islands and six small satellite islands (These islands include Isabela Island, Pinzon Island, Espanola Island, San Cristobal Island, Santa Cruz Island, and Santiago Islands), with a total land area of 8,000 km2. The Galapagos tortoise is endemic to the Galapagos Islands, located in the Pacific Ocean about 1,000 km west of Ecuador. These tortoises also enjoy basking in the sun, and warming up their heavy bodies before foraging. A typical tortoise is active for 7 to 9 hours per day, spending the rest of the time sleeping or napping. The Galapagos giant tortoise is a gentle, mild-mannered beast that lives a calm, tranquil life. Male giant tortoises must compete for mates, while females must be careful not to exhaust themselves by fighting. This difference in behavior is likely due to the different reproductive roles that males and females play. On the other hand, female tortoises are much more passive and tolerant of others. Males are much more aggressive than females and will often fight over territory or mates. These physical differences extend to their behavior as well. Finally, the male’s tail is significantly longer than the female’s. Their shells are also shaped differently – the males’ shells are more oval-shaped, while the females’ shells are more round. ![]() For one, the males tend to be larger than the females. Male and female giant tortoises have some key physical differences. The largest subspecies are found on larger moister islands, while the dry, small islands have smaller tortoise subspecies. The tortoises likely were able to cross the ocean to these remote islands because of their size and bulk and the survival advantages that they gave them while floating over the waves, rather than becoming huge once they had colonized the islands. Long-necked and small-headed, these tortoises move slowly enough so that lichen grows on the shells of some individuals as it might on a small boulder. The Galapagos giant tortoise is a huge, slow-moving, brown-shelled tortoise and type of turtle that measures an average of 1.2 meters long and weighs 250 kilograms – though an occasional huge specimen can reach as much as 400 kilograms in weight.
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