🐢 Mojave desert tortoise vs Ostrich 🐦
The ostrich is about 9 times as tall as the Mojave desert tortoise. The ostrich weighs about 20 times as much as the Mojave desert tortoise.
| Row | 🐢 Mojave desert tortoise | 🐦 Ostrich |
|---|---|---|
| Top speed We don't have a checked number for the Mojave desert tortoise yet. | no checked number yet | 43 mph69 km/h1 |
| Weight The ostrich weighs about 20 times as much as the Mojave desert tortoise. | 7.9 to 15 lb3.6 to 6.8 kg2 | 198 to 300 lb90 to 136 kg1 |
| Lives The Mojave desert tortoise usually lives about twice as long as the ostrich. | 50 to 80 years50 to 80 years2 | 30 to 40 years30 to 40 years1 |
| Eats The Mojave desert tortoise eats plants; the ostrich eats plants and animals. | grasses, wildflowers and cactus pads | seeds, grass, leaves, flowers and insects |
| Lives in They can live in the same kind of place. | the Mojave Desert of California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah | the savannas and dry plains of Africa |
Which one? Mojave desert tortoise or ostrich
🏁 Who would win the race?
We don't have a checked top speed for the Mojave desert tortoise yet, so there is no race.
We only race. Real animals mostly avoid each other. A race is the only fair contest: who reaches the tree first, by top speed.
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Getting the animals ready…
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The link carries only the two animals’ names: peabody.kids/animals/compare/desert-tortoise-vs-ostrich
Where these numbers come from
- Smithsonian's National Zoo, Ostrich, checked 30 October 2026.
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, species profile, checked 30 October 2026.