Star Tortoise

This article is part of the #BestiaryFebruary challenge. The prompt for this article was SHELL.
You can find the rest of our articles for the challenge here!

A star tortoise is a giant variant of terrestrial tortoises that roams the starways. It is able to reach its impressive size because it dwells exclusively in microgravity environments. The smallest of them are about the size of corvettes, and bigger ones can be as large as small asteroids. They are generally reclusive and try to avoid the peoples of the spaceways when possible.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Tortoises have a shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in star tortoises is hard, and like other turtles, they retract their necks and heads directly backward into the shell to protect them.
Tortoise skeletal structure is unique. The shell, called the carapace, is formed of the tortoise's ribcage, which serves basically as struts for a structure of dermal armour and boney protrusions, covered in a layer of horn. The underside, called the plastron, is a slightly concave or convex boney structure, depending on whether the tortoise is male or female. It is comprised of nine bones, and likely evolved from the sternum and ventral ribs.
Like many other turtles, star tortoises are capable of withdrawing all of their limbs, including heads and necks, into their shells for protection. However, the star tortoise also possesses thick membranes that can then close over and form a completely sealed unit, maintaining the creature's air and water, even in the depths of the Void. They form an airtight seal over the membrane flaps with a gelatinous mucus that is secreted from the shell and stored in localized glands until it is needed.
The number of concentric rings on the carapace, much like the cross-section of a tree, can sometimes give a clue to how old the animal is, but, since the growth depends highly on the accessibility of food and water, a star tortoise that has access to plenty of forage with no seasonal variation will have no noticeable rings.
Star tortoises are sexually dimorphic. Males have a longer, more protruding neck plate than their female counterparts, and the claws are longer on the females.
The male plastron is curved inwards to aid reproduction. The easiest way to determine the sex of a tortoise is to look at the tail. The females have smaller tails, dropped down, whereas the males have much longer tails which are usually pulled up and to the side of the rear shell.

Genetics and Reproduction

Star tortoises lay small clutch sizes, seldom exceeding 20 eggs. Incubation is characteristically long in most species. The incubation period is usually about a standard year. Star tortoises lay their eggs on asteroids or small, uninhabited moons, preferably off the more well-travelled spaceways, after which the mother tortoise covers her clutch with sand, soil, and organic material.
The eggs are left unattended, and take another standard year to incubate. Eggs are about the size of a gunboat. The plastron of a female tortoise often has a noticeable V-shaped notch below the tail which facilitates passing the eggs.
Upon completion of the incubation period, a fully formed hatchling uses an egg tooth to break out of its shell. It digs to the surface of the nest and begins a life of survival on its own. They are hatched with an embryonic egg sac which serves as a source of nutrition for the first week until they have the strength and mobility to find food.

Growth Rate & Stages

Star tortoises are known to be exceptionally long-lived. An Alfar space druid with a star tortoise for a companion died of old age before the tortoise did, and it is still living out the remainder of its days in the Alfar's native grove. Naturalists generally agree the creatures could live for several millennia, especially when dormant periods of hibernation are considered.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Star tortoises prefer to establish themselves in asteroids and other low-gravity environments that are not commonly frequented by starfaring ships. This allows them to go about their lives in relative peace and gain unrestricted access to food.
A star tortoise is capable of eating just about anything, from plants to animals, to raw minerals. One of the most likely encounters between star tortoises and the peoples of the stars is when miners move to an asteroid cluster with rich veins of siderophile elements, including the elusive Starmetal, and find it has already been inhabited by a colony of star tortoises who have no intention of sharing.

Biological Cycle

Star tortoises are capable of hibernating for extended periods of time. No one is exactly sure how long they can hibernate for, but it is possible that they are capable of doing so for millennia.
This is likely how they manage to disperse themselves throughout the starways. When food gets scarce, a star tortoise seals itself up in its shell and sets itself adrift on the Airts. Star tortoises are large enough to possess their own Gravity Wells, so the Airts will pull them along if given the chance, but it may take centuries to get to new feeding grounds.
This ability to make their way through star systems is why the star tortoise has become the symbol of a Shellback, which is a star-sailor who has been across a Wormhole. A Shellback Tattoo, which denotes this status, is a stylized image of a star tortoise.

Behaviour

In general, star tortoises are peaceful and reclusive beasts who prefer not to compete with other organisms, especially intelligent ones. When faced with determined opposition, they will simply move. Male star tortoises will push each other around in competition for mates, but there are rarely injuries.
Starsharks will occasionally prey upon star tortoises as well. They will fight lone starsharks, but schools will also cause them to trust their futures to the Airts rather than fight.

Additional Information

Domestication

Occasionally, star-dwelling communities domesticate star tortoises for use as mounts or beasts of burden. They are highly food motivated, but not very bright, so they are generally only useful for specific, basic tasks, even though they are highly cooperative.

Uses, Products & Exploitation

Star tortoises are edible, and are sometimes hunted by starfaring peoples and hungry sailors. Their meat is reputed to be quite tasty, though they are notoriously hard to kill.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Communication in tortoises is different from many other reptiles. Because they are restricted by their shell and short limbs, visual communication is not a strong form of communication among them. Star tortoises use olfactory cues to determine the sex of other tortoises so that they can find a potential mate.
Tactile communication is important in tortoises during combat and courtship. They use ramming to communicate with other tortoises in both situations.

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Star Tortoise by Sable Aradia with Artbreeder

Scientific Name

Testudo gigantea stellae

Lifespan

Unknown. Certainly centuries, perhaps even millennia.

Conservation Status

Star tortoises appear to be uncommon but in no way endangered in Known Space.

Geographic Distribution

• Known Space

Star Tortoise Shell by Sable Aradia with Artbreeder

Star Tortoise in Motion by Sable Aradia with Artbreeder