I have often wondered whether or not tortoises are able to jump. After all, they have 4 legs that they can move, and they are not that heavy, even if they have a big shell on their back. So I decided to do some research and finally answer the question, can tortoises jump? Here is what I found out.
Tortoises are able to jump, but their heavy shell and inflexible body don’t make it easy for them. The jump of a tortoise is very small and doesn’t cover any significant distance, making it very hard to notice. One of the few times a tortoise can be seen jumping is when it’s in danger.
Physically tortoises have everything that they need to jump, they have 4 legs, they can move, and they have enough muscles to jump. Most people believe that tortoises are unable to jump due to the weight of the shell, but that is not necessarily a problem. So let’s take a quick look at how tortoises jump.
Things That Influence How a Tortoises Jumps
Tortoises are quadrupedal, this means that they use 4 legs to sustain themselves and that they can use all 4 of them to jump. The fact that they are quadrupedal also means that their weight is distributed differently than how the weight is distributed for humans.
Tortoises have most of their weight very close to the ground, and this is not the most useful thing when it comes to jumping, but it’s not necessarily something that can stop them from jumping.
Now let’s talk a little about the shell. Most people believe that the shell is the heaviest part of the tortoise, and that is the reason why they can’t jump. But that is not necessarily true. For the majority of tortoises, the weight doesn’t represent the majority of their mass. Even if tortoise shells cover most of their body they are not that heavy, when you compare them to the muscles and organs inside the body of a tortoise. For most tortoises, the shell represents only between 25% and 35% of their entire weight.
There are a few tortoise species out there that will eventually end up with huge shells that make it impossible for them to jump, but this doesn’t apply to small or medium-sized tortoises. So for Greek Tortoises, Hermann’s Tortoises, Indian Star Tortoises, Box Turtles, and other tortoises the shell is not that heavy when you compare it with the rest of the body.
Now, speaking of what’s inside the tortoise’s body. There are a lot of muscles under that shell, and those muscles are always carrying the tortoise everywhere. Due to the shape of the tortoise’s body, when a tortoise moves it will use a lot of muscles just to take a few steps. So we can definitely say that all the muscles are well trained to handle all the weight of a tortoise.
Now let’s see how tortoises jump.
How Tortoises Jump
When tortoises jump they will bend their back legs and slightly extend their front legs while still keeping them bent a little. After the tortoise gets into this position, the tortoise will push with all four legs and propel itself forward.
This is how most quadrupedal animals will do when they want to jump. What makes it different for the tortoises is that they don’t have a flexible body, so they can’t bend their body to increase the jumping distance. The fact that tortoises don’t have flexible bodies is what makes it the hardest for them to jump. But they are still able to do it.
How Far Can Tortoises Jump
Most medium-sized tortoises will be able to jump anywhere from 2 to 3 inches (5 to 7 centimeters). But for smaller tortoises, like the greek tortoise, the distance will be smaller, usually around 1 inch (2.5cm).
I know it doesn’t seem too much like a jump, but when tortoises jump their entire body won’t be making contact with any surface, and that is what a jump is. A jump is not defined by the height that you reach, or the distance, if you use your body to propel yourself in the air, and you are not making contact with any surface, then you are jumping.
But under certain circumstances, tortoises are able to jump farther. If the tortoise is running, before it jumps the distance will be a lot bigger, than it would be if the tortoise was standing before the jump.
It’s just like when you throw a ball with your hand. If your hand moves fast when you throw it, the ball will go very far, but if you throw it while your hand is moving slowly it will travel a smaller distance.
Now let’s look at some examples of tortoises jumping.
Examples of Tortoises Jumping
Here are a few videos from YouTube that show turtles and tortoises jumping. And to make things simpler for you, I set the videos to start a few seconds before the tortoise’s jump.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwipCJopsQ&t=15s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPXz6WBRZQ0&t=67s
Why Don’t Tortoises Jump More Often?
Even if tortoises are able to jump, they are not very good at it. So it won’t have any benefit for them to do so.
For most animals jumping is useful, cats use it to reach inaccessible places, lions use it to catch prey, frogs use it to run from danger, monkeys use it to jump from tree to tree, dogs use it to catch frisbees, and we use it to jump over puddles of water so we don’t get our feet wet. No matter how trivial some animals use the ability to jump, it still offers them some benefits in that situation. But tortoises won’t get any benefit in most situations.
Snapping turtles are usually known to jump when they are disturbed. They do this because the jump allows them to move a little faster in that situation, and offers them an element of surprise. Other tortoises probably do this as well, but at the moment there aren’t too many videos of tortoises doing so.
Other than to defend themselves, tortoises don’t have any reason to jump. It has no benefit for them.
How We Jump and Things That Influence How We Jump
It’s important to know a little about how we jump because if we do, we can better understand how tortoises are able to jump.
When we jump we bend our knees and then we use our muscles to push ourselves upwards into the air.
The more power we use when we push ourselves into the air, the further we will jump. How much power we use depends on how much muscle we have, but not just the leg muscles, when we jump we use a lot more. When we jump we use the shoulder muscles, arm muscles, core muscles, leg muscles, calf muscles, glute muscles, and of course the back muscles.
When we jump we also have 5 directions where we can do so, up, forward, backward, to the left, and to the right. And depending on the direction we choose we will use some muscles more than others.
Another important thing that we have to talk about is the shape of our body, which is very different from the shape of a tortoise. We, humans, are bipedal, which means that we have two legs that we use to stand up, and our weight is distributed very differently than the weight of a quadrupedal animal. We, humans, have most of our weight near the torso and the stomach, so it’s pretty far away from the ground. This allows us to have an advantage over quadrupedal animals when it comes to jumping.
Related Question
Can tortoises run? Yes, tortoises are able to run. They usually only run when they are in danger.
Can all turtles swim? No. Not all tortoises are able to swim. Tortoises are a type of tortoise that lives on land. Most aquatic tortoises have feet that are somewhat similar to flippers, which allows them to swim properly. Tortoises on the other hand have feet that are more similar to the ones of an elephant, and they are not good for swimming.
Can tortoises turn over? Yes, some of them can. It usually depends on the shape of the carapace, if the tortoise will be able to turn or not. Tortoises with rounder carapaces will find it easier to turn over if they have to. But tortoises with a flatter carapace will have a harder time turning over. But it’s possible to turn over no matter what kind of carapace they have.
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