Giant tortoises still represent the living symbol of the Galápagos archipelago, even as four of the fifteen species have long since been exterminated by human activity in the region. However, one of them could be brought back to life based on genetic techniques applied to museum-preserved specimens. When... |
24 September 2008
09:19 GMT |
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Living trapped in a bony shell must be tough. But what if you fall on your back? For a turtle, this is impossible not to happen, as males fighting for females often flip their adversaries on their back. Still, this may not kill the animal, as it will get on its feet on its own. A new research solved the mystery: it&#... |
29 October 2007
05:16 GMT |
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Elephants can live up to 60 years. Crocodiles can reach 80 and even more. Recent data points to the fact that large whales can live over 150 years. But clear data comes from huge land tortoises to crown them as the planet's most long lived animals. If small tortoises can live over 30 years, the large ones can ea... |
23 July 2007
14:16 GMT |
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This is an unusual case: scientists know that a species is extinct even if its last individual has not died yet. But it could still exist for 1-2 centuries more. This is the "Lonesome George", the last known survivor of a species of Pinta tortoise, one of the 13 species of giant tortoises (of which two are already ex... |
7 July 2007
06:13 GMT |
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Two heads think more than one. But it is better for them to be located in two distinct bodies. When more than one head grows from one body, this is called polycephaly, an impairment that occurs during the embryonic stage of development. These tortoises show that the two-headed monsters are not just something depicted... |
5 June 2007
15:26 GMT |
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