The olive ridley turtle, aka Pacific ridley sea turtle, is the 2nd smallest known sea turtle. The Kemp’s ridley being the smallest. These turtles are the most abundant sea turtle in
The Russian tortoise, aka Afghan tortoise, Horsfield’s tortoise, steppe tortoise, or Central Asian tortoise, hails from the Caspian Sea on south through Pakistan, Afghanistan
The green sea turtle, aka green turtle. Named not for the color of it’s skin or shell (carapass), but for the color of its fatty tissue and cartilage. These large oceanic turtles can be found in tropical and sub-tropical waters, worldwide. They are among the largest of the sea turtles […]
Found on Aldabra island in the Indian Ocean, the Aldabra tortoise is one of the largest tortoise species in the world, after the Galápagos tortoise. These giants prefer mangrove swamps, scrublands, coastal dunes, and grasslands. There used to be 18 known species of giant tortoise throughout the islands in the […]
The African spurred tortoise, aka sulcata tortoise or spur-thigh tortoise, is the 3rd largest tortoise after the Galápagos and Aldabra tortoises. Spurred tortoises are the biggest
Having the largest range of any turtle, the leatherback turtle travels the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans in an incredible migratory journey. Leatherbacks are also known as
The mata mata turtle originates from South America’s Amazon and Orinoco basins. With many names to its credit, the mata mata, which translates to “kill, kill” in Spanish, has been
The desert tortoise is adapted to live in extremely hot desert environments. They are found in the Mojave Desert of California, Utah, Nevada, and the Sonoran deserts of Arizona and Mexico
The Galápagos tortoise is the largest tortoise on Earth. Sadly, out of the 15 known subspecies of these tortoises, only 11 remain in the wild. They live in dry lowlands to more humid highlands. Galápagos tortoises were hunted during the 17th, 18th, and 19th century to near extinction
There are only 7 known species of sea turtle existing today and 6 of these are found around Australian waters. They are the green sea turtle, the loggerhead, the olive ridley, the hawksbill