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
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tortoise

tortoise

There are approximately 356 species of turtles living on land in all continents except Antarctica and
in both salt water and fresh water. Tortoises (family Testudinidae) live exclusively on land and have
anatomic features distinguishing them from other turtles, but the term tortoise has long been used to
refer to other terrestrial testudines as well, such as the box turtle and the wood turtle. Similarly,
terrapin was sometimes used to describe any aquatic turtle but is now largely restricted to the edible
diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin) of the eastern United States.

leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea)

leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea)

Despite turtles’ broad distribution, there are not and never seem to have been a great many species of
turtles at any time over the course of their long evolutionary history. The small number of species,
however, does not equate to a lack of diversity. There are turtles with carapace lengths (the standard
way to measure turtles) of less than 10 cm (4 inches), as in the flattened musk turtle (Sternotherus
depressus), and of more than 1.5 metres (4.9 feet), as in the leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys
coriacea). Some species live in seasonally cold climates with growing seasons of only about three
months; others live in the tropics and grow year-round. Some tortoises rarely see water, while other
turtles spend virtually their entire lives in it, be it in a single small pond or traveling the vast open
ocean.

pond turtle

pond turtle

Both common and rare turtles are kept as pets. In the Western Hemisphere, pond turtles such as the
red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta) and cooters (Pseudemys species) are very often seen in pet
stores. The ornate shells that make some species valuable as pets also make them vulnerable to
extinction in the wild, since these turtles frequently are found only in small geographic areas or do
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.

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Animal Factoids

Know about the life of parrotfishes and hawksbill sea turtles

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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.