Spider Tortoise

The Spider Tortoise (Pyxis arachnoides) is a species of tortoise in the Testudinidae family. It is endemic to Madagascar and is one of only two species in the genus Pyxis.

Very little is known about the life cycle of this endangered tortoise, which is believed to live for up to 70 years. The remaining tortoises are found only in south western Madagascar, where they inhabit the spiny vegetation of the sandy coastal areas. Here they feed on young leaves, insect larvae, and even the droppings of larger animals.

Famous quotes containing the words spider and/or tortoise:

    I think this journal will be disadvantageous for me, for I spend my time now like a spider spinning my own entrails.
    Mary Bokin Chesnut (1823–1886)

    Deathlessness should be arrived at in a ... haphazard fashion. Loving fame as much as any man, we shall carve our initials in the shell of a tortoise and turn him loose in a peat bog.
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