Gopherus agassizii
Range
They are found in the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts of southeastern California, southern Nevada, south through Arizona and into Mexico.
Habitat
They live in the desert.
Body Traits
They are 9 – 15 inches long and can weigh 8 – 15 pounds. They have flat front legs made for digging and a brown shell (carapace). They can pull their head and legs in toward the shell for protection (retraction).
Habits
Males will fight when they meet. They spend most of their lives in burrows underground when it is too hot (or cold) to be outside. They can live for 80-100 years.
Diet
They eat plants: grasses and wildflowers.
Predators
Their only predator is man collecting them, but loss of habitat from animals grazing also has an effect on them.
Reproduction
Females lay 4 – 8 white, hard-shelled eggs in the spring to early summer in a nest they dig near their burrow under a bush. Larger females lay more eggs than smaller females and have several egg-layings (clutches) in a season. Babies hatch in 3 – 4 months.
Classification
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Chordata
- Subphylum: Vertebrata
- Class: Reptilia
- Order: Testudines
- Family: Testudinidae
- Genus: Gopherus
- Species: G. agassizii