Desert Tortoise

Desert Tortoise
(Gopherus agassizi)
A rare species found in Southern and Western Arizona into Sonar, Mexico.   The desert tortoise feeds mainly on grasses and herbs and burrows into the ground during periods of extreme heat or cold.

Photo by Paul Berquist.
(I am guessing this card is from the 1980's.) 

Giant Galapagos Tortoise "Harriet" 3-D

Giant Galapagos Tortoise "Harriet" (ca. 1830 - 2006)
Galapagos-Riesenschidkrote (German)
Tortuga de las Galapagos (Spanish)
Tortue geante des Galapagos (French)

Photo: Gary Bell

This 3D postcard was made in Germany and bought in 2015.

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Harriet (c. 1830 – June 23, 2006) was a Galápagos tortoise who had an estimated age of 175 years at the time of her death in Australia. Harriet is the third oldest tortoise, behind Tu'i Malila, who died in 1965 at the age of 188, and Adwaita, who died in 2006 at the estimated age of 255.

She was reportedly collected by Charles Darwin during his 1835 visit to the Galápagos Islands as part of his round-the-world survey expedition, transported to England, and then brought to her final home, Australia, by a retiring captain of the Beagle. However, some doubt was cast on this story by the fact that Darwin had never visited the island that Harriet originally came from.

Birthday Tortoise, With Age Comes Wisdom

With age comes wisdom
Happy Birthday to a very wise person!

Aldabra Tortoise
2013

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The Aldabra giant tortoise, from the islands of the Aldabra Atoll in the Seychelles, is one of the largest tortoises in the world.

Large tortoises are among the longest-lived animals on the planet. Some individual Aldabra giant tortoises are thought to be over 200 years of age, but this is difficult to verify because they tend to outlive their human observers.

A male named Adwaita was reputedly one of four tortoises brought by British seamen from the Seychelles Islands as gifts to Robert Clive of the British East India Company in the 18th century, and came to the Calcutta Zoo in 1875. At his death in March 2006, Adwaita is reputed to have reached the longest ever measured life span of 255 years (birth year 1750). His date of birth was determined by carbon dating his shell.

Nevada Wildlife: Horses, Foxes and a Desert Tortoise

Nevada Wildlife

Wildlife on Nevada Test Site
Photograph courtesy of U.S. D.O.E.  (Department of Education?)

featuring Horses, Foxes and a Tortoise
2008