The yellow-foot tortoise, a turtle originating in Amazonia, inhabits the dense forests and wetlands and is the largest species of terrestrial tortoise of South America
In northern Brazil, these animals are diurnal and gregarious. They live in flocks and spend much time looking for food. They are omnivores, have no teeth, but a bone plate that serves as a blade, and feed mainly on fruit, flowers, carrion, worms, molluscs, slogans and grasses.
This animal has convex hull, short legs, thick, without toes and strong nails. Brings the body adapted to dry and walk to dig shallow burrows near logs or leaves where he hides.
Its shell is a bony structure formed by the vertebrae of the chest and ribs. It is elongated and has high polygons yellow center, with designs in relief in which the growth rings are different. His head and feet are retractable and collect to the hull for protection when disturbed.
The yellow-foot tortoise presents the scales on the head and legs yellow, black nose and staining the hull lighter than the red-foot tortoise.
The average size is 40 cm. Males grow less than females, which may exceed 70 cm and weigh over 30 kg.
This type of animal has sexual dimorphism, where the plastron is concave in males and females is straight or convex, being used to fit the female during copulation.
The tortoises vie for the female, fighting, picking up his head and repeatedly slamming his hooves in the other one. During courtship this smacks of chelonian sexual region of the candidate, then climbs into his shell and with the help of the tail introduces the penis into the sex of the companion. The larger males because of their weight have a better chance of fertilizing the female, which tends to move, trying to extricate himself, rejecting many suitors and lay eggs without fertilization.
During copulation, the male moves his head, emits grunts, walk fits over the female, dragging her down and exposing his penis that comes in contact with the ground.
At the time of laying, the female digs a hole in the ground, a place where it hits the sun and the earth is soft consistency that allows them to dig. Without camouflage the place, lays about 10 eggs round and white, and cover them with earth or sand. The eggs are incubated by the heat of the sun and the puppies born independent, with no parental support.
The time of hatching of the eggs is 6-9 months, and produces less than 50% embryo born with yolk-sac attached to the abdomen, which allows small yellow-foot tortoise over one month without any power unless water.
The puppies come with yellow-foot tortoise soft shell, with denticles on the marginal edges of the scales of the carapace, which lost during its development.
This turtle reaches sexual maturity at approximately 5 years and can live for over 80 years.
Often, the yellow-foot tortoise wild invade native backyards, in the rainy season, when they come looking for food, attracted to the full that exude the rotten fruits fall to the ground, especially behind pajurás, pupunhas, guava and jackfruit.
The tortoises are large seed dispersal as approximately 90% of the seeds become consuming suitable for germination. They do the job of a gardener and have an important contribution to the recovery of natural flora.
Studies undertaken by IBAMA, show that even turtles that lived many years in prison, can be easily rehabilitated and released back into nature.
TESTUDINIDAE - Chelonoidis denticulata
