Animal
Desert tortoise
The desert tortoise lives in a hot, dry desert in the United States. It digs burrows to stay cool and can go a very long time without drinking.
The desert tortoise, also called the Mojave desert tortoise, lives in the deserts of the south-western United States. It spends most of its life in underground burrows, stores water in its body, and can live for 50 years or more. Sadly, it is now critically endangered.
Gopherus agassizii, the Mojave desert tortoise, is a burrowing tortoise endemic to the Mojave and western Sonoran (Colorado) deserts north and west of the Colorado River. Slow to mature and long-lived, it has declined by about 90 percent over three generations in most of its range and is assessed by the IUCN as Critically Endangered.
Photo: Tigerhawkvok, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Meet the desert tortoise
The desert tortoise lives in a hot, dry desert.
It has a high, round shell and strong legs for digging. It moves slowly and eats plants and flowers.
The desert tortoise is a land turtle that lives in the deserts of the south-western United States. Its high, domed shell is brown, gray or black on top and lighter underneath, and it is 20 to 38 centimeters long.
It has flat, strong front legs for digging and thick back legs like an elephant's. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance calls it the largest land turtle in the United States. Desert tortoises are slow and quiet, but they can hiss, grunt and make other small sounds.
Gopherus agassizii is a medium-sized tortoise with a high-domed carapace 8 to 15 inches (about 20 to 38 centimeters) long and 4 to 6 inches high; adults weigh 8 to 15 pounds (about 3.6 to 6.8 kilograms) (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service). The front limbs are flattened for digging and the hind limbs are columnar.
The name now refers only to the Mojave population. Genetic work split the Sonoran desert tortoise (G. morafkai) from it in 2011, and the Sinaloan thornscrub tortoise (G. evgoodei) from G. morafkai in 2016, so three species are now recognized (IUCN).
Quick facts
- Group
- Reptile
- Length
- 0.2 to 0.38 m
- Height
- 0.1 to 0.15 m
- Weight
- 3.6 to 6.8 kg
- Lifespan in the wild
- 50 to 80 years
Where it lives
Desert tortoises live in the Mojave Desert in the United States.
They dig burrows under the ground. Inside, it stays cooler in summer and safer in winter.
Desert tortoises live only in the United States: in south-eastern California, southern Nevada, south-western Utah and a corner of north-western Arizona, north and west of the Colorado River. Most of this land is the Mojave Desert. A desert is land that gets no more than about 25 centimeters of rain in a year.
They live in valleys and on rocky foothills, sandy flats, washes and canyons, often among creosote bushes. Their most important home, though, is underground: desert tortoises spend about 95 percent of their lives in burrows.
The IUCN's 2021 assessment describes the species as endemic to the United States: south-eastern California, southern Nevada, south-western Utah and extreme north-western Arizona west and north of the Colorado River, in the Mojave Desert, the western Sonoran (Colorado) Desert and transition zones with the Great Basin and nearby mountains, up to about 1,570 meters. Hybrids with the Sonoran desert tortoise occur where the two meet near the Colorado River.
Habitats range from sandy flats to rocky foothills, alluvial fans, washes and canyons (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service); in Mojave National Preserve tortoises typically use creosote bush scrub in valleys between about 1,000 and 4,000 feet. Burrows, extending about 1 to 1.2 meters down at roughly 45 degrees, provide shelter for most of the year.
Continent
Its habitat
Where can you find this animal?
- Lives here naturally · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
- Sightings recorded · Records of wild sightings (GBIF)
Lives here naturally · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
The Mojave Desert and nearby deserts of south-eastern California, southern Nevada, south-western Utah and north-western Arizona, north and west of the Colorado River. Tortoises live in only this small part of the United States.
Places: United States.
Source: iucn-red-list · checked October 2026
Sightings recorded · Records of wild sightings (GBIF)
Counts of GBIF records of wild observations (human and machine) and preserved specimens. Records include introduced populations, vagrants, escaped or released animals and misidentifications, so a country with records is not necessarily part of the native range.
Wild sightings have been recorded in United States, Mexico and Canada.
Source: gbif · checked October 2026
Range maps show where scientists say an animal lives, often country by country. An animal may live in only part of a country shown, and sightings records can include animals that wandered far from home.
Food and water
Desert tortoises eat grass, flowers and cactus.
They can go a very long time without a drink. They keep extra water inside their bodies.
Desert tortoises are herbivores. They eat grasses, wildflowers, herbs and cactus, such as prickly pear and beavertail cactus. Tortoises have no teeth; they bite with a hard beak.
Water is precious in the desert. A tortoise can store water in its bladder, a bit like a canteen, and use it when there is nothing to drink. Some even dig little basins in the soil to catch rain and remember where they are. Adults can survive for more than a year without drinking.
The diet includes herbs, grasses, cacti and wildflowers; preferred plants include prickly pear and beavertail cactus, primrose, globemallow, desert dandelion and desert marigold (San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance). Food takes about 20 to 30 days to digest, and seeds spread in the droppings help native plants.
Water balance is the key adaptation. The bladder stores water that can be reabsorbed when none is available, and San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance says it can hold up to 40 percent of body weight. The National Park Service notes that adults lose water so slowly they can survive more than a year without free water, and that a frightened tortoise may empty its bladder, a loss that can be fatal.
Did you know?
Other animals live in tortoise burrows too.
Burrowing owls, kangaroo rats, pack rats and even snakes use desert tortoise burrows.
Pack rats, burrowing owls, kangaroo rats, jackrabbits, gopher snakes, banded geckos and cactus wrens all use tortoise burrows.
Built for digging
The tortoise's front legs are like shovels.
They have big, tough scales and strong claws. Its shell is high and round, and it can pull its head inside.
A desert tortoise's front legs work like shovels, with long, sturdy nails for digging burrows. They are covered in big, cone-shaped scales that protect them from scratchy plants. The back legs are round and thick, like an elephant's.
Under the chin, the bottom shell sticks out a little. This part is called the gular horn, and males use it to hook other males and flip them over.
The flattened forelimbs carry long, sturdy nails and large, conical scales that protect against vegetation and help reduce water loss (San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance); the hind limbs are elephant-like and the tail is short (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service).
The gular horn, the forward projection of the plastron beneath the head, is used by males to hook and overturn rivals. Chin glands become active at sexual maturity and act as chemical and visual signals; dominant males have larger glands containing more testosterone. Hatchlings' shells stay soft for several years, which leaves them vulnerable.
Slow to grow up
The mother tortoise digs a small nest and lays a few eggs.
The eggs are as big as ping-pong balls. Baby tortoises hatch in late summer or fall and look after themselves. It takes many years for them to grow up.
Female desert tortoises lay 2 to 14 eggs, each about the size of a ping-pong ball, in a shallow nest they dig near their burrow, usually between May and July. The mother does not guard the nest. After 90 to 120 days, from mid-August to October, the babies hatch and look after themselves.
Growing up takes a very long time. Tortoises are not adults until they are about 13 to 20 years old, a bit like people! They can live roughly 50 to 80 years.
Females mate at 15 to 20 years old (San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance), can store sperm, and lay clutches of 2 to 14 ping-pong-ball-sized eggs in a shallow nest near the burrow, mostly between May and July. There is no parental care; after 90 to 120 days of incubation, hatchlings about 4.2 to 4.5 centimeters long emerge between mid-August and October.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service gives maturity at 13 to 20 years and a lifespan of roughly 50 to 80 years; the National Park Service gives adulthood at 14 to 20 and lifespans of 60 to 80 years. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance gives a lower figure, about 35 years in the wild and 50 to 100 years in human care, so wild lifespans are not precisely known. Mortality is concentrated early: the Park Service reports that 98 percent of eggs and hatchlings die before reaching maturity.
Life in a burrow
Desert tortoises spend most of their lives in burrows.
They come out in spring to eat flowers. When it rains, they come out to drink from puddles.
Desert tortoises spend about 95 percent of their lives underground. They can spend up to nine months a year in their burrows, resting through the cold winter and the hottest part of summer. They are most active from March to June and from September to October.
In spring they come out to bask in the sun and eat fresh plants. After summer storms they may come out again, and they are drawn to rain puddles, even on roads. Many other animals, like burrowing owls and kangaroo rats, also use tortoise burrows.
Tortoises hibernate (brumate) in burrows for up to nine months a year and are most active from March to June and September to October (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service); in the hottest weather they estivate underground. During drought they retreat to burrows, lower their metabolism and eat little, then grow and reproduce in good rainfall years (National Park Service).
Burrows also shelter other wildlife, including pack rats, burrowing owls, kangaroo rats, jackrabbits, gopher snakes, geckos and cactus wrens, which is why San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance calls the tortoise a keystone species. Males compete for mates using the gular horn, and tortoises communicate with head bobs, chin-gland signals and sounds such as hisses, grunts and pops.
Did you know?
Desert tortoises dig little bowls to catch rain.
Some desert tortoises dig shallow basins in the soil to catch rain, and remember where they are.
San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance reports tortoises digging basins to catch infrequent rain and returning directly to them after rainfall.
Helping a desert survivor
There are fewer desert tortoises than there used to be.
People help by driving carefully in the desert and never taking tortoises home. If you see one, watch it quietly from far away.
Desert tortoises are in serious trouble. The IUCN lists them as Critically Endangered, and in the United States they have been protected as a threatened species since 1990.
Towns, roads and off-road vehicles destroy their burrows and plants. Wildfires spread through invasive grasses, a disease spreads among tortoises, and ravens catch many babies. You can help: never pick up or take home a wild tortoise, drive slowly where tortoises live, and look under parked cars before driving away, because tortoises like the shade.
The IUCN assessed the Mojave desert tortoise as Critically Endangered (A2abce+A4abce) in 2020, published in 2021, citing adult declines of about 90 percent over three generations in four of five recovery units, falling proportions of juveniles in all five, and densities near the minimum thought viable. It was listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act in 1990.
Named threats include loss, degradation and fragmentation of habitat from development; wildfire fueled by non-native plants; upper respiratory tract disease, which the National Park Service links to released pets and handling; road deaths; off-road vehicles; and predation on eggs and hatchlings, including by ravens attracted by human food waste.
IUCN Red List
How is the desert tortoise doing in the wild?
- Least Concern
- Near Threatened
- Vulnerable
- Endangered
- Critically Endangered (this animal)
- Extinct in the Wild
- Extinct
Critically Endangered
At extremely high risk of disappearing from the wild.
See the IUCN Red List assessment · The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2022.2
Amazing facts
-
A desert tortoise spends almost its whole life underground.
Desert tortoises spend about 95 percent of their lives in their burrows.
Both the National Park Service and San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance put time spent in burrows at about 95 percent of a tortoise's life.
-
A tortoise keeps water inside its body, like a water bottle.
A desert tortoise's bladder works like a canteen, storing water it can use when there is nothing to drink.
Water stored in the bladder, up to 40 percent of body weight, can be reabsorbed in dry times; adults can go more than a year without free water.
-
Desert tortoises dig little bowls to catch rain.
Some desert tortoises dig shallow basins in the soil to catch rain, and remember where they are.
San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance reports tortoises digging basins to catch infrequent rain and returning directly to them after rainfall.
-
Other animals live in tortoise burrows too.
Burrowing owls, kangaroo rats, pack rats and even snakes use desert tortoise burrows.
Pack rats, burrowing owls, kangaroo rats, jackrabbits, gopher snakes, banded geckos and cactus wrens all use tortoise burrows.
Words to know
- burrow
- a hole or tunnel an animal digs in the ground to live in
- brumation
- a winter rest in reptiles, like hibernation
- estivation
- a summer rest that helps an animal survive heat and drought
- herbivore
- an animal that eats only plants
- endemic
- found naturally in only one place
- critically endangered
- at extremely high risk of disappearing from the wild
Discovery challenge
-
Where do desert tortoises spend most of their lives?
Where do desert tortoises spend about 95 percent of their lives?
Where does a desert tortoise spend about 95 percent of its life?
- In a pond
- In a burrow underground
- Up in a tree
Show the answer
In a burrow underground
They stay in burrows under the ground.
They spend about 95 percent of their lives in burrows, which protect them from heat, cold and predators.
In burrows, where they shelter from temperature extremes and predators and reduce water loss.
-
Where does a desert tortoise keep extra water?
Where does a desert tortoise store water for dry times?
Which organ lets a desert tortoise store water for drought?
- In its shell
- In its bladder
- In its tail
Show the answer
In its bladder
It keeps water inside its body, in its bladder.
Its bladder stores water like a canteen, so it can use it later.
The bladder stores water, up to 40 percent of body weight, which can be reabsorbed when no free water is available.
-
What do desert tortoises eat?
What do desert tortoises eat?
Which best describes the desert tortoise's diet?
- Grass, flowers and cactus
- Fish
- Other tortoises
Show the answer
Grass, flowers and cactus
They eat plants: grass, flowers and cactus.
They are herbivores that eat grasses, herbs, wildflowers and cactus.
A herbivorous diet of herbs, grasses, cacti and wildflowers.
-
What should you do if you see a wild desert tortoise?
What is the best thing to do if you see a wild desert tortoise?
Why should people not pick up wild desert tortoises?
- Pick it up and take it home
- Watch it quietly from far away
- Chase it
Show the answer
Watch it quietly from far away
Watch it quietly from far away. Never take it home.
Watch from a distance. A scared tortoise may lose the water stored in its bladder, and taking tortoises home is against the law.
Handling can make a tortoise void its stored water, which can be fatal, and is linked to respiratory disease; collecting is illegal.
Places where you might see it
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For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Describe how the desert tortoise survives heat and drought.
- Explain how its body is built for digging burrows.
- Describe its slow life cycle and why that makes recovery hard.
- Explain why it is critically endangered and how people can help.
Recommended ages: 3 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- Why might living underground help an animal survive in the desert?
- Why is it a problem for a species if it takes 13 to 20 years to become an adult?
- Why do you think releasing pet tortoises can harm wild ones?
Try at home or in class
- Put a thermometer in the shade and another a few centimeters under the soil on a hot day, and compare the temperatures.
- Weigh an empty water bottle and then a full one to feel how heavy stored water is.
Key vocabulary: burrow, brumation, estivation, herbivore, endemic, critically endangered
Where these facts come from
- The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN terms of use (no redistribution of Red List data or range maps))
- GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and GBIF Occurrence Search , Global Biodiversity Information Facility (CC0 1.0 (backbone); occurrence counts are facts derived from records under CC0, CC BY and CC BY-NC)
- Gopherus agassizii (Mojave Desert Tortoise), global Red List assessment 2021 , IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
- Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) , U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
- Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassizii), Mojave National Preserve , U.S. National Park Service
- Desert tortoise , San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file: Public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA only (credited on each page))
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated October 27, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.