Turtle, (order Testudines), any reptile with a body encased in a bony shell, including tortoises.

Although numerous animals, from invertebrates to mammals, have evolved shells, none has an
architecture like that of turtles. The turtle shell has a top (carapace) and a bottom (plastron). The
carapace and plastron are bony structures that usually join one another along each side of the body,
creating a rigid skeletal box. This box, composed of bone and cartilage, is retained throughout the
turtle’s life. Because the shell is an integral part of the body, the turtle cannot exit it, nor is the shell
shed like the skin of some other reptiles.

Meet a 2,000-pound leatherback sea turtle and the pair of Russian tortoises that traveled to the Moon

Meet a 2,000-pound leatherback sea turtle and the pair of Russian tortoises that traveled to the
MoonSee all videos for this article

tortoise

tortoise

not breed in captivity.

vulture. An adult bearded vulture at a raptor recovery center. The Gypaetus barbatus also known as
the Lammergeier or Lammergeyer, is a bird of prey and considered an Old World vulture.

Britannica Quiz

Animal Factoids

Know about the life of parrotfishes and hawksbill sea turtles

Know about the life of parrotfishes and hawksbill sea turtlesSee all videos for this article

Before the advent of plastics, tortoiseshell from the hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata)
was used in eyeglass frames and decorative items. Turtles and their eggs have long been eaten in
many parts of the world, and they continue to be in great demand commercially. In some areas, local
populations and even entire species have been hunted to extinction.

leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea)

leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea)

Such exploitation is not a recent phenomenon. For example, the Native Americans who settled
Florida quite possibly ate its giant tortoises to extinction as early as 11,500 years ago. The first
colonists of Madagascar eliminated that island’s giant tortoise (Geochelone grandidieri) between
2,300 and 2,100 years ago, and European settlers and sailors eliminated giant tortoises from the
island of Mauritius during the 1700s and from Réunion by the 1840s. Every sea turtle species has
long been killed for meat, with its eggs being harvested from beach nests as soon as they are laid.
This practice now endangers many populations of sea turtles. Before 1969, for example, more than
3,000 female leatherback sea turtles emerged from the ocean annually to nest on the beaches of
Terengganu, Malaysia. In the 1990s only 2 to 20 females appeared each year. Their disappearance
resulted from years of excessive egg harvesting and the capture and slaughter of juveniles and adults
during their migratory search for food. By the 2010s the species was virtually absent from
Terengganu.