Interesting Facts about Turtles
The largest turtle species, the great leatherback sea turtle can reach a weight of over 900 Kg which is about 12 times the average weight of an adult human being. It can attain a shell length of 200 cm (80 inches). The smallest turtle is the Speckled Padloper Tortoise of South Africa. It measures no more than 8 cm (3 in) in length and weighs about 140 g (5 oz). The largest ever known chelonian was a Late Cretaceous sea turtle known to have been up to 4.6 m (15 ft) long. The turtles can take up dissolved oxygen from the water using these papillae, in much the same way that fish use gills to respire. Sea turtles possess glands near their eyes that produce salty tears that rid their body of excess salt taken in from the water they drink. Most turtles that spend most of their life on land have their eyes looking down at objects in front of them. Some aquatic turtles, such as snapping turtles and soft-shelled turtles, have eyes closer to the top of the head. Turtles are thought to have exceptional night vision due to the unusually large number of rod cells in their retinas. Turtles have color vision with a wealth of cone subtypes with sensitivities ranging from the near Ultraviolet (UV A) to Red. Many turtle species can live over 100 years. A giant Galapagos land tortoise named Harriet is around 175 years old, and an Aldabra tortoise is said to have been 250 years old when it died. Turtles are divided into two groups depending on how they contract their neck. One group (Cryptodira) contracts their neck under their spine; the other (Pleurodira) contracts their neck to the side. The inner layer of a turtle's shell is made up of about 60 bones that includes portions of the backbone and the ribs, meaning the turtle cannot crawl out of its shell. The endangered leatherback sea turtle is the world's largest turtle species. It can reach over 6-½ feet in length and weigh up to a ton. The earliest turtles had teeth and could not retract their heads, but other than this, modern turtles are very similar to their original ancestors. Turtles use their jaws to cut and chew food. Instead of teeth, the upper and lower jaws of the turtle are covered by horny ridges. Carnivorous turtles usually have knife-sharp ridges for slicing through their prey. Herbivorous turtles have serrated-edged ridges that help them cut through tough plants. Some aquatic turtles can absorb oxygen through the skin on their neck and cloacal areas allowing them to remain submerged underwater for extended periods of time and enabling them to hibernate underwater. Turtles use their tongues to swallow food, but they cannot, unlike most reptiles, stick out their tongues to catch food. Several species of turtles can live to be over a hundred years of age including the American Box Turtle. Turtles range in size from the 4-inch Bog Turtle to the 1500-pound Leathery Turtle. By counting the rings formed by the stack of smaller, older scutes on top of the larger, newer ones, it is possible to estimate the age of a turtle, if you know how many scutes are produced in a year. This method is not very accurate, partly because growth rate is not constant, but also because some of the scutes eventually fall away from the shell. Turtles will live in almost any climate warm enough to allow them to complete their breeding cycle. The top domed part of a turtle's shell is called the carapace, and the bottom underlying part is called the plastron. Turtles have a rigid beak. While most turtles do not tolerate the cold well, the Blanding's turtle has been observed swimming under the ice in the Great Lakes region. Turtles live on every continent except Antarctica. The shell of a turtle is made up of 60 different bones all connected together. The speckled padloper tortoise of South Africa is the world's smallest turtle species. Adults grow no larger 3 inches in length and weigh around 5 ounces. In most turtles, the outer layer of the shell is covered by horny scales called scutes that are part of its outer skin, or epidermis. Scutes are made up of a fibrous protein called keratin that also makes up the scales of other reptiles. Turtles have been on earth for a long time, more than two hundred million years. Barbour's map turtles (Graptemys barbouri) are dimorphic in size. The large adult females live in deep sections of rivers and feed on fresh water clams. The males live in shallow riffle areas of the river where they feed on caddisfly larvae and other small aquatic insects. Tortoises and turtles are able to store the sperm and have been known to produce fertile eggs three years after the last mating. The black soft-shelled turtle figures importantly in Hindu mythology. The animals are believed to represent the souls of long ago sinners, transformed into reptiles by a 13th century saint, are in a tank attached to a temple in Bangladesh. Each animal is considered sacred, and so none can be removed. Technically they are classified as reptiles and are found on every continent except Antarctica. They can have three, four or five toes on each limb depending upon their species. Contrary to the popular belief, the turtle's shell is very much alive, not a dead tissue like nails or hair. Turtles have good eyesight as well as an excellent sense of smell. The upper shell of a turtle or tortoise is called carapace which is composed of 50 bones. The lower shell of a turtle or tortoise has evolved from the clavicles or collarbones and the ribs and is known as plastron. The bony structure that joins the carapace and the plastron of a turtle is called the bridge. A species of turtles, the red-eared sliders are commonly kept as pets. In leatherback and soft-shelled turtles, the bony scutes have been replaced with tough, leathery skin. |
SEARCH
Sponsors
Related Links |