The animals are also vulnerable to a range of deadly diseases such as upper respiratory illnesses and the shell disease cutaneous dyskeratosis, which softens their shells. Finally, as climate change ...

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated. An iconic Southern California desert dweller ...

A desert tortoise in the Desert Tortoise Research Natural Area in California City in 2022. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) The California Fish and Game Commission has formally recognized the Mojave ...

Spotting a Mojave Desert tortoise is increasingly difficult in the American Southwest. The tortoises, with their unmistakable domed patterned shells, live in California, parts of Nevada, Arizona and ...