Today, giant tortoises are found on a limited number of tropical islands, notably the Gal\u00e1pagos Islands, Aldabra Atoll in the Seychelles, and Mauritius. Some weigh up to 300kg and can grow to be 1.3m long. Though superficially similar, the Pacific and Indian Ocean populations aren\u2019t closely related \u2013 but why did they grow so large?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Eight things you never knew about the Gal\u00e1pagos giant tortoise<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n
Turtle vs tortoise: what\u2019s the difference?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
<\/p><\/div> <\/section>
Why are giant tortoises so big<\/span><\/h2>\n
The most established theory invokes the principle of \u2018island gigantism\u2019. If an animal becomes isolated from a crowded, species-rich ecosystem, it is freed from the usual environmental limitations caused by predation or competition for food or habitat that cap its size. The planet\u2019s remote islands are peppered with examples of animals, both living and extinct, that fit this theory: the kakapo, New Caledonian giant day gecko, elephant birds, moas and Flores giant rat.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
In the case of giant tortoises, the absence of competing mammalian herbivores, intra-specific competition for food and the ability to store energy in response to fluctuating food supplies all might result in an increase in body size. Moreover, as a cold-blooded reptile, its metabolism and overall \u2018running costs\u2019 are very low. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n
Main image \u00a9 Getty Images<\/p><\/body><\/html>\n
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By Nick Baker Published: Tuesday, 15 November 2022 at 12:00 am Where do giant tortoises live? Today, giant tortoises are found on a limited number of tropical islands, notably the Gal\u00e1pagos Islands, Aldabra Atoll in the Seychelles, and Mauritius. Some weigh up to 300kg and can grow to be 1.3m long. Though superficially similar, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":22504,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"2"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/11\/where-do-giant-tortoises-live-and-why-are-they-so-big-scaled.jpg",2560,1678,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/11\/where-do-giant-tortoises-live-and-why-are-they-so-big-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/11\/where-do-giant-tortoises-live-and-why-are-they-so-big-300x197.jpg",300,197,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/11\/where-do-giant-tortoises-live-and-why-are-they-so-big-768x504.jpg",768,504,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/11\/where-do-giant-tortoises-live-and-why-are-they-so-big-1024x671.jpg",800,524,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/11\/where-do-giant-tortoises-live-and-why-are-they-so-big-1536x1007.jpg",1536,1007,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/11\/where-do-giant-tortoises-live-and-why-are-they-so-big-2048x1343.jpg",2048,1343,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Nick Baker Published: Tuesday, 15 November 2022 at 12:00 am Where do giant tortoises live? Today, giant tortoises are found on a limited number of tropical islands, notably the Gal\u00e1pagos Islands, Aldabra Atoll in the Seychelles, and Mauritius. Some weigh up to 300kg and can grow to be 1.3m long. Though superficially similar, the…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/22503"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}