Giant Tortoise is characteristic reptiles that are found on two groups of tropical islands: the Aldabra Atoll in Seychelles and the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador. These tortoises can weigh as much as 300 kg and can grow to be 1.3 m long. Giant tortoises originally made their way to islands from the mainland. These animals belong to an ancient group of reptiles, appearing about 250 million years ago. By the Upper Cretaceous, 70 or 80 million years ago, some had already become gigantic. About 1 million years ago tortoises reached the Galápagos Islands. Most of the gigantic species began to disappear about 100,000 years ago. Only 250 years ago there were at least 20 species and subspecies in islands of the Indian Ocean and 14 or 15 subspecies in the Galápagos Islands. The Aldabra giant tortoise lives on the remote Aldabra atoll, one of the Seychelles groups of islands in the Indian Ocean. It is the only Indian Ocean giant tortoise species alive today, others having become extinct soon after the arrival of human settlers. The Aldabra giant tortoise has a dome-shaped shell which acts as protective armor for their soft, vulnerable body that lies underneath. They have an incredibly long neck which it uses to tear leaves from the branches higher up trees.
