Editing Tortoise (section)

==Distribution==
Tortoises are found from southern North America to southern South America, around the Mediterranean basin, across Eurasia to Southeast Asia, in sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar, and some Pacific islands. They are absent from [[Australasia]]. They live in diverse habitats, including deserts, arid grasslands, and scrub to wet evergreen forests, and from sea level to mountains. Most species, however, occupy semiarid habitats.

Many large islands are or were characterized by species of [[giant tortoise]]s. Part of the reason for this is that tortoises are good at [[oceanic dispersal]]. Despite being unable to swim, tortoises are able to survive long periods adrift at sea because they can survive months without food or fresh water. Tortoises have been known to survive oceanic dispersals of more than 740&nbsp;km.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Gerlach|first1=Justin|last2=Muir|first2=Catharine|last3=Richmond|first3=Matthew D.|date=28 December 2006|title=The first substantiated case of trans-oceanic tortoise dispersal|journal=Journal of Natural History|volume=40|issue=41–43|pages=2403–2408|doi=10.1080/00222930601058290|bibcode=2006JNatH..40.2403G |s2cid=86037101|url=https://zenodo.org/record/5230669}}</ref> Once on islands tortoises faced few predators or competitors and could grow to large sizes and become the dominant large [[herbivores]] on many islands due to their low metabolic rate and reduced need for fresh water compared to mammals.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Goodman |first1=Steven M.|last2=Jungers|first2=William L. |title=Extinct Madagascar : picturing the island's past |date=2014 |location=Chicago |isbn=978-0226143972}}</ref>

Today there are only two living species of giant tortoises, the [[Aldabra giant tortoise]] on [[Aldabra Atoll]] and the dozen subspecies of [[Galapagos giant tortoise]] found on the [[Galapagos Islands]]. However, until recently [[giant tortoise]]s could be found on nearly every major island group, including the [[Bahamas]], the [[Greater Antilles]] (including [[Cuba]] and [[Hispaniola]]), the [[Lesser Antilles]], the [[Canary Island]]s, [[Malta]], the [[Seychelles]], the [[Mascarene Islands]] (including [[Mauritius]] and [[Réunion|Reunion]]), and [[Madagascar]]. Most of these tortoises were wiped out by human arrival. Many of these giant tortoises are not closely related (belonging to different genera such as ''[[Megalochelys]]'', ''[[Chelonoidis]]'', ''[[Centrochelys]]'', ''[[Aldabrachelys]]'', ''[[Cylindraspis]]'', and ''[[Hesperotestudo]]''), but are thought to have independently evolved large body size through [[convergent evolution]]. Giant tortoises are notably absent from [[Australasia]] and many south [[Pacific]] islands, but the distantly related [[Meiolaniidae|meiolaniid]] stem turtles are thought to have filled the same niche. [[Giant tortoise]]s are also known from the [[Oligocene]]-[[Pliocene]] of mainland North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa, but are all now extinct, which is also attributed to human activity.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cione |first1=Alberto |last2=Tonni |first2=Eduardo |last3=Soibelzon |first3=Leooldo |title=The Broken Zig-Zag: Late Cenozoic large mammal and tortoise extinction in South America |journal=Revista del Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales |series=Nueva Serie |year=2003 |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=1–19|doi=10.22179/REVMACN.5.26 |doi-access=free }}</ref>[[File:Gopher Tortoise snacking on Opuntia ( Nopales ) cactus at Smyrna Dunes Park - Flickr - Andrea Westmoreland.jpg|alt=Tortoise feeding on a cactus|thumb|[[Gopher tortoise]] feeding on cactus]]