- Can weigh 8–15 pounds and be 9–15 inches long
- Their shells make up 30% of their total weight
- Can live to be over 80 years old, but in the wild they typically live 35–40 years
- Have a high domed shell, elephantine legs, and heavily scaled front legs
- Desert tortoises have many natural predators, including ravens, Gila monsters, kit foxes, badgers, roadrunners, coyotes, and fire ants ... these predators prey on eggs, juveniles, and sometimes adults
- Fairly common in southern Arizona
