Living on land, however, are the land turtles, properly called tortoises, of which there are approximately forty different kinds. Of those,
Gopherus
, including the three gopher tortoises, is found in the southern United States as far
5
west as New Mexico. Gopher tortoises are called so because they dig long burrows, which may be nearly 50 feet long and provide a home for many other animals, such as frogs, snakes, and burrowing owls. They are primarily vegetarians, feeding
on grass and leaves. Berlandier’s tortoises, a slow
-moving
10
inhabitant of the arid lands of southern Texas and Mexico, is especially fond of prickly-pear cactus. The true tortoises come to water only to drink or bathe, and they are adapted to walking on land be their club-
15
shaped feet. Their limbs are covered with hard scales that often have a bony core. The shell is high-domed in all but a very few forms. The openings at the front and rear of the shell are usually neatly closed by the retracted limbs, on which the enlarged scales may be defensively augmented
20
with still larger spines. The head can be entirely withdrawn, the elbows meeting in the middle in front of it and the claws of the forelimbs overlapping the lower edge of the openings
Living on land, however, are the land turtles, properly called tortoises, of which there are approximately forty different kinds. Of those,
Gopherus
, including the three gopher tortoises, is found in the southern United States as far
5
west as New Mexico. Gopher tortoises are called so because they dig long burrows, which may be nearly 50 feet long and provide a home for many other animals, such as frogs, snakes, and burrowing owls. They are primarily vegetarians, feeding
on grass and leaves. Berlandier’s tortoises, a slow
-moving
10
inhabitant of the arid lands of southern Texas and Mexico, is especially fond of prickly-pear cactus. The true tortoises come to water only to drink or bathe, and they are adapted to walking on land be their club-
15
shaped feet. Their limbs are covered with hard scales that often have a bony core. The shell is high-domed in all but a very few forms. The openings at the front and rear of the shell are usually neatly closed by the retracted limbs, on which the enlarged scales may be defensively augmented
20
with still larger spines. The head can be entirely withdrawn, the elbows meeting in the middle in front of it and the claws of the forelimbs overlapping the lower edge of the openings
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