Giant tortoise!!

[morloch]

Wow!! This guy is big and beautiful!! Just randomly found this pic with no info,, anybody tell me what this big guy is??!! ,,, can anyone guess how old??

 

[dannel]

Maybe Galapagos?

 

[morloch]

Ya!!,, must be. Gentle giants!!

 

[DeanS]

That's actually an Aldabra. I recall that particular specimen being called the largest tortoise ever weighed...even though Galaps are considered to be larger in general!

 

[Baoh]

The photo is kind of small and low-res, but it looks like a Galapagos tortoise to me.

 

[DeanS]

Oh Gre-e-e-e-e-e-g! Perhaps you can verify what I already know to be true!?!?

 

[Baoh]

http://www.dogonews.com/2012/6/26/l...nt-tortoise-of-its-species-is-no-more/page/17

Third photo. Larger, clearer, and from it I can easily tell that it is a Galapagos.

 

[Yvonne G]

This very same picture was submitted to our calendar contest either last year or the year before. Humph! I'm appalled!!!

 

[DeanS]

That's right...I forgot about the shots taken of George after his demise! There is a similar shot with the LARGEST Aldab! I stand corrected!

 

[mattgrizzlybear]

Wow he is big! Such a smooth shell for his age!

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

Magnificent beast.

 

[morloch]

Lol,, either way ,, he was beautiful!!

 

[DeanS]

He's been documented since 1912...I have no idea how big he was then. Apparently, there are 17 tortoises discovered since carrying the same DNA...whether viable offspring survived (or not) is a topic for debate.

 

[Baoh]

Not sure what is currently being discussed, but the tortoise in the photo in the first post of this thread is not lonesome George. Lonesome George has a "saddleback" variety of anterior carapace shape.