Turtles

Archosaurs

Sister group of turtles

Carapice

Top of the turtle shell

Plastron

Belly of the turtle shell

Scutes are offset from the sutures of the bone

What makes turtle shells so strong?

Bone with keratin scutes on top of it

What are the carapice and plastron composed of?

Gastralia

Belly ribs that contribute to plastron

Cryptodire

Turtles where the neck bends in vertical plane, pulls the head straight back (S-shape)

Pleurodire

Turtles where the neck bends in a horizontal plane, pulls the head back sideways

Exhalation

Contracts transverse abdominous and pectoralis muscles

Inhalation

Contracts abdominal oblique and serratus muscles

Cloacal Respiration

Inside of cloaca is lined with papilla and allows for more gas exchange to happen

Shell Kinesis

The movement of the shell due to hinges between bones, different species have different numbers of hinges

1

How many hinges does a box turtle have?

2

How many hinges does a mud turtle have?

Trionychidae

Softshell turtles, don’t have scutes, weird noses, more aggressive, burrow in substrate and are very quick (sit and wait pred), long necks

Emydidae

Pond turtles (sliders, painted, etc.), more aquatic, streamlined shell for swimming, have digits and claws

Chelydridae

Snapping turtles, small plastron so doesn’t hide much, pretty aggressive

Alligator Snapping Turtle

Turtles with a lure on the tongue to bait fish

Kinosternidae

Musk turtles

Dermochelydiae

Leatherback turtles, shell is made of lots of tiny bones, very large turtles, countercurrent heat exchangers, gigantothermy

Cheloniidae

Sea turtles, highly adapted for water, streamlined shells, have flippers, hind limbs act like rudders

Gigantothermy

Things that are warmer than environment just because they’re big

Testudinidae

Tortioses, more dome-shaped shells, more elephantine limbs

Thermoregulation

Gathering heat in limbs to bring it back to their body in the shell, will hold limbs out to bask in the sun and absorb as much as they can

Claws, stripes on heads and butts, males smaller than females,

Traits used for species recognition

Plastron of males will get softer to help mounting female, males fight, head bobbing, biting each other, caressing heads with claws

Traits of courtship

On land, some are buried deep and some are more on surface

Where do turtles put their eggs?