Desert Tortoises

Encountered two different species of desert tortoise on the same day, on the same road, within a couple miles of one another in a mountain range west of Tucson.  Recent rains and the stormy sky made it a good day for desert tortoise travel. 

First a large, male Agassiz's Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassizii). His shell was over a foot across, and roughly fifteen inches long. A big boy, many years old.

His snout was stained purplish-red, probably from munching prickly pear fruit.

This smaller Sonoran Desert Tortoise (Gopherus morafkai) was a little further up the road. Its shell looked more like six or seven inches across, and it was much more inquisitive than its stoic counterpart.

It was also more lively, and moved rather quickly to avoid being photographed. After posting a guardian to keep the tortoise out of the road, we moved on as well.