A giant tortoise.
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Giant tortoises are characteristic reptiles that are currently found on two groups of tropical islands: the Aldabra Atoll and Fregate Island in Seychelles and the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador (a population at the Mascarene Islands was exterminated by the 1900s).
There are many subspecies of giant tortoises that are found on different islands and have different appearances. Those that live on the larger islands where there is more rain have “dome” shaped shells, while those that live in drier conditions are smaller tortoises and have a “saddleback” shell.
These tortoises can weigh as much as 417 kg (919 lb) and can grow to be 1.3 m (4 ft 3 in) long. Giant tortoises originally made their way to islands from the mainland; for example, the Aldabra Atoll and Mascarenes giant tortoises are related to Madagascar tortoises while the Galapagos giant tortoises are related to Ecuador mainland tortoises.
This phenomenon of excessive growth is known as island gigantism or insular gigantism. It occurs when the size of the animals that are isolated on an island increases dramatically in comparison to their mainland relatives. This is due to several factors such as relaxed predation pressure, competitive release, or as an adaptation to increased environmental fluctuations on islands. However, giant tortoises are no longer considered to have been examples of island gigantism, as they originally evolved their massive sizes on the mainland. Giant tortoises were once common across the Cenozoic faunas of Eurasia, Africa and the Americas.