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Pancake Tortoises have a fairly flat shell structure (hence the name). They like to go in rock crevices and enjoy the radiating heat. This buddy here seems to go "Awww yeah. Waffle iron mode, babyyy." (lemmy.world)

submitted 6 months ago by umbraroze to c/aww

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Image: Wikimedia Commons, Wikipedia

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 months ago (2 children)

The pancake tortoise is a fast and agile climber, and is rarely found far from its rocky home so that, if disturbed, it can make a dash for the nearest rock crevice.[6] Since this tortoise could easily be torn apart by predators, it must rely on its speed and flexibility to escape from dangerous situations, rather than withdrawing into its shell.[10] The flexibility of its shell allows the pancake tortoise to crawl into narrow rock crevices to avoid potential predators,[6] thus exploiting an environment that no other tortoise is capable of using.[11]

Don't see anything about heat.

[–] umbraroze 3 points 6 months ago

I admit, I was speculating on the headline. However!

The pictured specimen is a captive one. Not really one subject to avoiding predators or being disturbed.

The ectotherms do a lot of strange things for thermoregulation.

[–] yokonzo 3 points 6 months ago

They also can expand their bodies to lock themselves in place, in case a predator with a long beak wants to try and yank them out