An iray render of my models featuring the Desert Tortoise. Tortoises and turtles are both reptiles from the order of Testudines, but in different classification families. The major difference between the two is that tortoises dwell on land, while turtles live in the water some or nearly all of the time. Tortoises tend to have rounder, bumpier and heavier shells than turtles. Turtles also have webbed feet, while tortoises do not. They also are longer lived; averaging 80-150 years. The longest known living tortoise was 326 years. The tortoise is a symbol of the Ancient Greek god, Hermes. Tortoise shells were used by ancient Chinese as oracle bones to make predictions. In Hinduism, Vishnu took the form of a half-man, half-tortoise, the lower half being a tortoise. He is normally shown as having four arms. He sat on the bottom of the ocean after the Great Flood. A mountain was placed on his back by the other gods so they could churn the sea and find the ancient treasures of the Vedic peoples. Rendered in Iray without any postwork. Models include: NW Saguaro Habitat, NW Habitat Extender, NW Lizards, NW Lizards v1, NW Turtles, NW Turtles V1 and Songbird ReMix Owls.