Chelonoidis+Ignis

<< Back to Modern Animal **__Chelonoidis Ignis__** //Chelonoidis Ignis,// Latin for ‘Fire Tortoise’, is extremely similar and a direct descendent of the dome-shelled Gal á pagos Tortoise. This animal is a personal scientific creation of what the Gal á pagos tortoise may become 80 to 100 million years into the future. It is known to scientists that previous species of the turtle or tortoise, such as the Triassic turtle // Proganochelys quenstedti //, have evolved quite quickly in a time of need, when survival is top priority – as has the Fire Tortoise.


 * General Information **


 * Scientific Classification **
 * ** Level ** ||||  ** Classification **  ||
 * Kingdom ||||  Animalia  ||
 * Phylum ||||  Chordata  ||
 * Class ||||  Reptilia  ||
 * Order ||||  Testudines  ||
 * Suborder ||||  Cryptodira  ||
 * Family ||||  Testudinidae  ||
 * Genus ||||  Chelonoidis  ||
 * Species ||||  C. Ignis  ||


 * Habitat **

**Global Location** The Fire Tortoise is still located solely on the Gal ápagos Islands, as were its ancestors. Some parts of the world have moved, but the islands remain quite close to their original position, as they are volcanic islands, and did not originate from a larger piece of land. The islands are held in place by an array of   volcanoes that, for some, have been there before the 21st century, and others that have appeared and risen over the next few million years. Following the recent ice age (60-70 million years before the Fire Tortoise), the ice has melted and the sea has risen and swallowed a number of the Gal ápagos Islands, but the volcanoes still stand well above sea level.

** Habitat Description / Specific Habitat of the Fire Tortoise ** The // Chelonoidis Ignis // lives in an extremely warm environment. 100 million years from now, large chains of volcanoes have surfaced around the world, and Earth’s temperature has increased dramatically. The extinct Galápagos tortoise of the 21st century used to sit by the volcanoes and bath in the heat of the steam and sulphuric clouds, for they were cold-blooded reptiles; they could not produce their own body heat and relied about the heat exhausted from the volcanoes to keep them warm. The immediate environment of these volcanoes is desolate, extremely hot and quite dangerous, but the Fire Tortoise has adapted to this environment (refer Figure 2).

** Resources (Food & water) ** In this extremely hot climate, insects and plants have had to adapt too. Bugs have grown to abnormally large sizes and typically arid plant life has thrived. Flora tends to be found further down the volcano with drier plants around the middle and greener plants being found down by rivers and the ocean at the base of the volcanoes and the valleys between them. Large insects have become common prey of the Fire Tortoise. The warm exterior of the tortoise attracts the bugs, which then gives the tortoise the opportunity to catch some in its mouth. These large insects are a very good source of protein for the //Chelonoidis Ignis//.


 * Adaptations [[image:Torkoal_realistic.jpg align="right" caption="Figure 3: Adaptations of the Fire Tortoise. (Source image: http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs19/f/2007/288/6/7/Torkoal_by_RaZoRLeAf.jpg)"]] **

** Structural/Physiological Adaptation – Managing and storing heat ** ** Th ** e tortoise is a cold-blooded reptile; therefore it cannot produce its own heat. The Gal á pagos Tortoise that existed around 80 million to 100 million years ago used to keep warm by placing themselves near the volcano and bathing in the steam and sulphuric clouds. Now living in an extremely hot climate, the Fire Tortoise has had to adapt to excess heat. Its way of doing this is by absorbing the heat and storing it in heat-ducts. These ducts are located just beneath the shell, inside the body of the tortoise. The heat-ducts can be seen through the shell as four glowing, red pieces of the shell, placed symmetrically in each corner (refer Figure 3). When the ducts absorb heat, the red coverings glow red. This also attracts insects, which can then be caught and eaten by the Fire Tortoise.

When the tortoise needs to expel some of the heat from its body, it releases it in the form of smoke and/or steam from the mouth, nostrils and an exhaust of sorts located on top of the shell (refer Figure 3). When not in use, this exhaust is shut tight by a sphincter in the muscle tissue of the back. This has required an adaptation in the bone structure of the tortoise. This unprotected area of the shell could be seen as a vulnerability, but the steam/smoke produced is enough to incinerate any flying animal or other pest that happens to attack or annoy the Fire tortoise.

This adaptation ensures the survival of the Fire Tortoise by preventing the tortoise from dying of overheating, attracting one of its main food sources to it, and providing a defence mechanism against any would-be attackers.

** Structural Adaptation – Mouth structure ** In this hot climate, there is little vegetation to be eaten. Although vegetation is still accessible to the Fire Tortoise, it now tends to feed on large insects, attracted by the glow of the heat-ducts on its shell. The Gal á pagos tortoise used to have a sharp beak with only strong gum lines of sorts on the top and bottom of its mouth, used for slicing up vegetation. Now, the Fire tortoise has developed a hard, secondary palate at the top of its mouth to crush these insects against with its strong tongue (refer Figure 3).

The ability to now catch and eat insects as a primary source of food gives the Fire tortoise a higher rate of survival as it does not always need to spend excessive amounts of energy on traveling down to the vegetation located further down the mountain. The environmental pressure that forced the // Chelonoidis Ignis // to adapt was the lack of close and abundant vegetation, leading it to find a new source of food.

** Behavioural/Physiological Adaptation – Different Diet and Better Digestion of it ** Ancestors of the Fire Tortoise, such as the Gal á pagos tortoise, have been known to have an ineffective digestive system. Due to large amounts of vegetation consumed by these creatures, their digestive systems do not process all the nutrition contained within the food. The Fire tortoise has adapted to a new diet of insects and less vegetation. With a new diet comes a new process of digestion, and new primary nutrients to digest. With a considerably lower amount of food available for consumption on the desolate volcanic islands, the Fire tortoise’s digestive system now effectively extracts vital nutrients from digested food (refer Figure 3), so it does not waste its limited food supply.

The primary food source of the Fire tortoise is now a variety of large insects found throughout the islands. These bugs contain very sizeable amounts of protein, which has also helped the Fire tortoise to develop a stronger neck and other limbs as to be more effective in the capture of these insects.

When the tortoise wishes to attract its prey, it fills its heat-ducts with absorbed warmth, causing them to glow. This glow draws the insects to the tortoise, which lays very still with its mouth open. When either an insect lands in the mouth of the tortoise, or it comes close enough to be caught, the Fire tortoise lashes out (if the insect is not already perched on its mouth) and snaps its beak shut, crushing the insect. This adaptation came about through the pressure of a lack of a sustainable food source, which caused the tortoise to find alternatives. This new diet then forced changes in the process of digestion within the animal. With this new food source and ability to successfully extract nutrients from it, the Fire tortoise can ensure its survival in the harsh, hot climate.

** Structural Adaptation – Stronger Shell ** With the increased intake of protein from the consumption of the large insects, the shell of the Fire tortoise has become significantly stronger. The primary reason and need for its strength is to protect it against any magma or debris that erupts from the volcano. Lava used to scar the shell of the Gal á pagos tortoise, but is now effective defended against with the tougher and more resistant shell (refer Figure 3). The tougher shell also helps contain the heat stored in the heat-ducts of the tortoise.

This adaptation was likely caused by the threat of flying magma and debris landing on the tortoises, injury or killing them. Through their natural adaptive processes, they’ve been able to acquire the resources necessary to changing the body and adapting.

** Behavioural Adaptation – Release of black smoke when threatened ** When the // Chelonoidis Ignis // feels threatened, it briefly overworks its heat-ducts to produce a thick, hot, black smoke from the mouth and exhaust vent (refer Figure 3). This gives the tortoise time to flee. It may use this mechanism when threatened by another, larger Fire tortoise, or when being pestered or attacked by flying creatures such as the Wahlberg’s Eagle.

All Fire tortoises have this ability, but it is more likely to be used by females. During mating season, if confronted by a larger male that is persistently trying to mount the female, but is too big to mate with her, she can release the black smoke and flee. This ensures the balance is kept between male and female Fire tortoises and so that females too have a way of staying alive and letting the species continue.

** The main environmental pressure that caused the Galapagos Tortoise to evolve into the **// Chelonoidis Ignis // was the drastic change in climate – the extreme heat and rising volcanoes and increase in volcanic activity. This new environment required the //Chelonoidis Ignis// to adapt to an area and atmosphere of high temperatures and dangers such as erupting volcanoes. These climate could possibly lead to the extinction of the Fire Tortoise for if the Galapagos Volcanoes were to have a catastrophic eruption, it would wipe out the islands all together – the Fire Tortoises along with them.
 * E nvironmental Pressure **

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 * **Bibliography**
 * Wikipedia. //Galapagos Tortoise//. Retrieved June 23rd 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gal%C3%A1pagos_tortoise
 * Figure 3. //Realistic Torkoal//. Retrieved June 27th 2011, from http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs19/f/2007/288/6/7/Torkoal_by_RaZoRLeAf.jpg
 * Idea for future animal: Bulbapedia. //Torkoal//. Retrieved June 27th 2011, from http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Torkoal_(Pok%C3%A9mon)