One member of the Pleistocene Megafauna of various continents that people tend to forget about are the giant tortoises.
Unlike what was previously believed to be cases of island gigantism, it is now known that giant tortoises actually became giant even before getting into islands, as several species have been found all through America, Eurasia and Africa.
And some of those tortoise species fall under Pleistocene Rewilding (like for example the American Giant Tortoise, Hesperotestudo crassiscutata), so naturally I think it's worth pondering if the two extant giant tortoise species could act as proxies for the extinct ones.
On the one hand, giant tortoises are kinda easy compared to other animals in a potential Pleistocene Rewilding. They're very easy to put in and also of taking out, and they're mostly harmless, even more so than other 'safe' animals like cattle or horses (and really, if you manage to piss off a tortoise and it manages to catch you, I think that's kinda on you :v), not to mention they're very charismatic megafauna that could be easy to gain public support. And as said previously, they're easy to take out, and it's very, very unlikely that they could turn invasive.
However, giant tortoises also have a rather large weakness in their nests. While I think that most predators would be unable to bring down an adult giant tortoise, and those that could (large bears and cats, and even they I don't think could easily kill a tortoise that has retreated into its shell), their nests and youngsters are very easy pickings, and so it could make it very difficult for a population to be able to establish itself.
And well, they could also be very vulnerable to poaching depending on which area they're introduced into.
So, thoughts?
Lmk please
Hi! I currently have 8 torts, and I am getting an Aldabra Tortoise by the end of the month. Help me name him/her!
I don't want super common names, we won't know the sex for a while but I don't really care if it leans one way or the other, he/she won't know the difference. Extra points for unisex names though. I want something unique, something that counts like a wize old wizard because it's probably going to be huge, and outlive me. The specific tortoise I'm getting has a cute partial split in one of his scutes!
