Habitat
The tortoises are able to live where ground temperature may exceed 140 degrees Fahrenheit (60 degrees Celsius) because of their ability to dig underground burrows and escape the heat. At least 95% of its life is spent in burrows. There, it is also protected from freezing winter weather while dormant, from November through February or March. With its burrow, this tortoise creates a subterranean environment that can be beneficial to other reptiles, mammals, birds and invertebrates.
Scientists have divided the desert tortoise into two types: the Agassiz's and Morafka's Desert tortoises, with a possible third type in northern Sinaloan and southern Sonora, Mexico. An isolated population of Agassiz's Desert Tortoise occurs in the Black Mountains of northwestern Arizona. They live in a different type of habitat, from sandy flats to rocky foothills. They have a strong proclivity in the Mojave desert for alluvial fans, washes and canyons where more suitable soils for den construction might be found. They range from near sea level to around 3,500 feet (1,100 m) in elevation. Tortoises show very strong site fidelity, and have well established home ranges where they know where their food, water and mineral resources are, and who their neighbors are. They also live to be 80–100 years old, although predation, disease and habitat loss have created significant challenges for the population at large.
Read more about this topic: Desert Tortoise
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—John Dewey (1859–1952)
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