Desert Tortoise Eating Hibuscus

by Linda Brody

Title

Desert Tortoise Eating Hibuscus

Artist

Linda Brody

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

Desert Tortoises love Hibiscus flowers. Porsche, our tortoise, is devouring one of the flowers.

The desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii and Gopherus morafkai) are species of tortoise native to the Mojave desert and Sonoran desert of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico and the Sinaloan thornscrub of northwestern Mexico. The photograph is Gopherus agassizii and is distributed in western Arizona, southeastern California, southern Nevada, and southwestern Utah. The species name agassizii is in honor of Swiss-American zoologist Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz. Recently, on the basis of DNA, geographic, and behavioral differences between desert tortoises east and west of the Colorado River, it was decided that two species of desert tortoises exist: the Agassiz's desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) and Morafka's desert tortoise (Gopherus morafkai). Gopherus morafkai occurs east of the Colorado River in Arizona as well as in the states of Sonora, Sinaloa, Mexico. This species may be a composite of two species.

The desert tortoises live approximately 50 to 80 years; they grow slowly and generally have low reproductive rates. They spend most of time in burrows, rock shelters, and pallets to regulate body temperature and reduce water loss. They are most active after seasonal rains and are inactive during most of the year. This inactivity helps reducing water loss during hot periods, whereas winter hibernation facilitates survival during freezing temperatures and low food availability. Desert tortoises can tolerate water, salt, and energy imbalances on a daily basis, which increases their lifespan.


This photograph has been featured in the following Groups:
Out of the Ordinary
Our Four Legged Friends
2ND PLACE CONTEST WIN - TORTUGA CONTEST OCT/2018
1ST PLACE CONTEST WIN - TORTUGA CONTEST FEB/2019
AVATAR WIN FOR APRIL 2019 - WILDLIFE GROUP


If you like my art, please take a moment to "like" and/or comment. I would be most appreciative if you would share on Facebook, Pinterest, etc. This will help promote my art online and enable it to be found by others on internet searches. Thank you so much.

Uploaded

November 25th, 2014

Statistics

Viewed 1,009 Times  -  Last Visitor from New York, NY on 04/21/2024 at 7:14 PM

Colors

Embed

Share

Sales Sheet

Tags