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wild desert tortoise shell
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CGKeith
Arizona, it's a dry heat.
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Post: #11
RE: wild desert tortoise shell

Yep, they were just little ones. Any info as to what the mortality rate is? How many actually make it to adult size?

02-14-2008 03:16 PM
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chelonologist
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Post: #12
RE: wild desert tortoise shell

The shell with the hole in the top exhibits the classic raven predation signature. The ravens typically eat each of the limbs and the head, then poke a hole through the shell to eat the internal tissues. The other juvenile tortoise pictured here may also have been preyed on by a raven, though the shell may have been too hard to punch a hole through.

06-09-2008 09:43 PM
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chelonologist
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Post: #13
RE: wild desert tortoise shell

chelonologist Wrote:
The shell with the hole in the top exhibits the classic raven predation signature. The ravens typically eat each of the limbs and the head, then poke a hole through the shell to eat the internal tissues. The other juvenile tortoise pictured here may also have been preyed on by a raven, though the shell may have been too hard to punch a hole through.


Now that I take a closer look, you can see some trauma to the shell of the larger tortoise. It looks to me as if a raven tried poking through the shell of this tortoise but was unsuccessful in breaking through. It did manage to damage the laminae and expose the bone, though. I believe those marks are the result of the raven hammering the shell with its beak.

06-09-2008 09:45 PM
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