RE: natatory Geochelone

["Thomas R. Holtz, Jr." <tholtz@geol.umd.edu>]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-dinosaur@usc.edu [mailto:owner-dinosaur@usc.edu]On Behalf Of
> Farlow,James
> Sent: Friday, June 30, 2000 12:40 PM
> To: dinosaur@usc.edu
> Subject: natatory Geochelone
>
>
>      Somebody has asked about whether giant tortoises can swim.
> Apparently
>      they float like corks:
>
>      "Giant tortoises are capable of oceanic crossings, riding the waves
>      like an inflatable raft, head up, patient, enduring days or
> even weeks
>      afloat."  David Quammen, 1996, _The Song of the Dodo: Island
>      Biogeography in an Age of Extinctions, Scribner, pp. 121-23.

Indeed, if they didn't float, there wouldn't BE any Galapagos tortoises (or
Aldabaran tortoises).

                Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.
                Vertebrate Paleontologist
Department of Geology           Director, Earth, Life & Time Program
University of Maryland          College Park Scholars
                College Park, MD  20742
http://www.geol.umd.edu/~tholtz/tholtz.htm
http://www.geol.umd.edu/~jmerck/eltsite
Phone:  301-405-4084    Email:  tholtz@geol.umd.edu
Fax (Geol):  301-314-9661       Fax (CPS-ELT): 301-314-7843