Turtle’s mouth is just the beginning of their unique anatomy. Dive into the amazing world of these creatures, and enjoy a good read with hedge the book! Turtles are a class of reptiles known as Testudines, whose shells are developed chiefly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two categories: side-necked turtles and hidden neck turtles, which differ in how the head retracts.
Turtles may be found on almost every continent and several islands, and much of the ocean. They can be found on most continents, as well as some islands and parts of the sea. They inhale air and do not lay eggs underwater, although many species reside in or near water. Genetic evidence suggests that they are closely linked to crocodilians and birds.
Anatomy
A turtle has a shell consisting of bony plates beneath its skin. As a turtle grows, it adds new rings to the edge of the shell around each section of its body. The shell is composed primarily of two groups of bony plates which are known as “scutes.” These scutes overlap like fish scales from head to tail, forming three sections: plastron, carapace, and the bridge.
The upper surface of the shell is covered by horny scales called scutella, which form broad shields over specific regions. A turtle’s top most shell is called a carapace, while its underside is called a plastron. The underside consists of paired appendages referred to as “flippers” or “fins.” Extending out from the sides of these appendages are sharp, curved claws projecting up to 1 inch, which the turtle uses for defense and feeding.
Turtles have a fibrous shell that is an extension of their back muscles covered by scales. On land, they must hold their breath, or else they’ll suffocate. Their eyes are adapted for underwater vision.
Behavior
Turtles are generally reclusive animals, but many will seek out human company when kept as pets. Turtles have been hunted and farmed for thousands of years. The first turtles were domesticated about 2000 years ago in China.
As a turtle grows, it develops keratinous growth rings on the edge of its shell around a section of its body. These growth rings represent a biological clock that tells researchers the turtle’s age without estimating it from inside the bone structure itself. The lower shell sometimes features ridges or undulations as plastron counting devices to record personal growth history like tree rings. As these scutes wear down through contact with obstacles such as rocks and vegetation, they can be used to estimate age after being subjected to wear by water or wind abrasion.
Turtle legs are generally adapted for land movement; although many aquatic species live in freshwater environments, a few are specially adapted for life in sandy or muddy tidal areas. This is easier where the carapace edges are long with flipper-like limbs that aid in swimming through the water. Some turtles have become so adept at moving through water that they have lost their ability to walk on dry land. They spend almost all their lives underwater, coming ashore only to lay eggs.
Lifecycle
Turtles are reptiles, so they are cold-blooded, lay eggs on land, and have scales. Turtles are among the most ancient reptile species still alive today. Turtles live up to the age of 100 years.
The sex of a turtle is figured by the temperature at which the egg incubates, with more females being produced at higher temperatures. Turtles can also change sex during their lives if there are no males around. The lower shell sometimes has ridges or undulations that help record personal growth history like tree rings. These scutes wear down through contact with obstacles such as rocks and vegetation. They can estimate age after they have been subjected to wear by water or wind abrasion.
Turtle Mouth
The turtle’s teeth, which resemble a colony of stalactites, are known as “papillae.” They line the turtle mouth down its esophagus and to its gut. Because it only eats jellyfish, the leatherback turtle isn’t a flesh-eating hunter. Turtle mouth and its backward-facing, pointy papillae assist the leatherback turtle in consuming a large number of the slippery jellies by keeping them from escaping out the back of the turtle mouth. The jellyfish is also aided by an elongated esophagus, which loops around and behind the stomach. This implies that any jellyfish may be eaten by the leatherback turtle, including enormous swarms like the Lion’s Mane.
Turtles are amphibious reptiles that inhabit all the world’s major tropical and temperate ocean basins, but they are not established in the Atlantic Ocean between South America and Africa. There are only one species of turtle living in New Zealand today. As a result, turtles have become extinct recently in some parts of the world due to human actions. Turtles breathe with lungs which are used just for breathing purposes, unlike fish that use their gills for breathing and absorb dissolved oxygen from the water around them.
Evolution
The earliest known turtles date to 215 million years ago, making turtles one of the senior reptile groups and a more pre historic group than lizards, snakes, crocodilians, dinosaurs, or mammals. Turtles are thought to have lost the gills seen in their ancestral
Lagenorhynchus, as well as their neck retractor muscles, which are used for both breathing and eating. Their shell, however, serves as protection to its body from predators. The size of a turtle is determined by its lifestyle as per our sources at hedgethebook; larger species tend to be more pelagic (open ocean dwellers), while smaller species are usually found in shallower waters or even on land.
French paleontologist Georges Cuvier first described turtles’ skulls in 1825. Turtles are most closely related to the archosaurs, including crocodilians, pterosaurs, and dinosaurs (insects are more closely related). Modern turtles have a very specialized skull with all but the mandible being fused into one compartment of the upper jaw. Turtles’ necks can range from a short stubby neck like an aquatic slider turtle to a long thin neck like an Asian box turtle.
Diet
The leatherback is a giant turtle. It has the world record for being the largest living reptile and its cousin, the green sea turtle. The shell of a giant leatherback can be up to two meters in length and can weigh up to 900 kilograms. But unlike other turtles and turtle mouth, it has no hard scutes on its body.
A Turtle’s mostly diet consists entirely of jellyfish. One study found that 99% of their diet is composed of six species of jellyfish from the order Rhizostomeae which have a seasonal abundance peak in June and November while they are least abundant in March and July.
This marine reptile only eats jellyfish meat because it provides more concentrated nutrition than other prey items such as fish. Leatherback sea turtles can maintain their body temperatures warmer than the surrounding water using an organic ‘blanket.’ Warm-blooded animals need to expend energy to maintain a constant internal temperature. Still, leatherbacks can conserve valuable energy because they can absorb heat from the environment, making them perfectly adapted for cold environments.
