CLEVELAND, Ohio ? Mary the giant tortoise came out of her shell in a very unladylike way last week at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. There's a reason, though: She's a he.


After more than a half-century at the zoo, the 400-pound tortoise showed veterinarians something extra during a routine physical exam. The find left the medical staff a little shell-shocked. Nobody ever viewed Mary as a male, zoo Director Steve Taylor said. (It's often difficult to determine the sex of an Aldabra tortoise because its reproductive organs usually aren't visible.)

The zoo long ago labeled Mary with an incorrect gender because of feminine characteristics: a smaller size, a flatter lower shell and shorter tail. Mary also looked nothing like Tom and Tim, the other boys in the zoo's tortoise enclosure.

Basically, dude looks like a lady . . . but there's absolutely no doubt now that Mary's a Gary.

read more here.

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um wow smaller size is usualy an indicater of a MALE
famales are usualy larger

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Apparently not among that breed of turtles.

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stubby ive been keeping turtles for more year then i can count

im also part of a massive online comunity of turtle keepers included int eh group is several breeders and keepers of those specific breed of turtles


that particular breed is like ver other breed and most wild animals in general females are always larger

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I believe the confusion arises from my paraphrasing. They were slightly smaller, but it was mainly the head size.

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