Balearic giant tortoise (SciiFii)

The Balearic giant tortoise (Titanochelon gymnesica) is a species of tortoise that originally lived in the Balearic islands during the Pliocene to the Early Pleistocene and was once extinct, but has since been brought back from extinction by SciiFii and introduced to the modern islands of Majorca and Menorca to help boost biodiversity. The closest living relatives of the Balearic giant tortoise are any tortoises of the genus Testudo. The Balearic giant tortoise is a very large tortoise, with its shell growing on average to be slightly larger than 80 centimeters in diameter and weighing about as much as an average-sized African spurred tortoise (Centrochelys sulcata). Balearic giant tortoises are herbivores. Primarily, their diets consist of many types of grasses and plants, high in fiber and very low in protein. Flowers and other plants including cactus pads can be consumed. Copulation takes place right after the rainy season, during the months from March through May. Males combat each other for breeding rights with the females and are vocal during copulation. Sixty days after mating, the female begins to roam looking for suitable nesting sites. For five to fifteen days, four or five nests may be excavated before she selects the perfect location in which the eggs will be laid. Loose soil is kicked out of the depression, and the female may frequently urinate into the depression. Once it reaches about two feet (60 cm) in diameter and 3-6 in (7–14 cm) deep, a further depression, measuring some eight inches (20 cm) across and in depth, will be dug out towards the back of the original depression. The work of digging the nest may take up to five hours; the speed with which it is dug seems to be dependent upon the relative hardness of the ground. It usually takes place when the ambient air temperature is at least 43 °F. Once the nest is dug, the female begins to lay an egg every three minutes. Clutches may contain 15-30 or more eggs. After the eggs are laid, the female fills in the nest, taking an hour or more to fully cover them all. Incubation should be 52 to 88 °F, and will take from 90 to 120 days. The conservation status of the Balearic giant tortoise is Vulnerable due to historic habitat loss and invasive species, however, thanks to the conservationists, the Balearic giant tortoise is a protected species, and is not longer threatened from human activities nor invasive predators and egg-eating animals such as rats and pigs (due to humans eradicating them from the islands where Balearic giant tortoises live in).