Order Testudine:

An order of Reptile, There are 14 extant families of this order.

The testudines are some of the most ancient reptiles alive, with only the tuataras
considered more primitive. There are approximately 300 extant species and 97
genera of testudines, split into two suborders:

1. Cryptodirans
2. Pleurodirans

The distinction between these two suborders is based on the mode in which
they cover their head and neck.

The Pleurodirans:
The Pleurodirans, also called the side-necked turtles, have long
necks, and fold them sideways to align them with the shell. The Pelomedusidae
and Chelidae are the only extant families of pleurodires.

The Cryptodirans:
The Cryptodirans pull their neck straight back to conceal their head
within the shell. The Carettochelyidae, Cheloniidae, Chelydridae,
Dermatemydidae, Dermochelyidae, Emydidae, Kinosternidae, Testudinidae and
Trionychidae are all cryptodires, although the ability to retract the head has been
lost in the sea turtles (Cheloniidae and Dermochelyidae).

A third order, the Paracryptodirans, are extinct.

Representatives:
Turtles, Tortoises and Terrapins are commonly known members of
Order Testudine.

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Turtle:
 Turtles are diapsids of the order Testudines (or Chelonii)
characterized by a special bony or cartilaginous shell developed from
their ribs and acting as a shield.
 Turtle" may refer to the order as a whole (American English) or to
fresh-water and sea-dwelling testudines (British English).
 "The order Testudines includes both extant (living) and extinct
species. The earliest known members of this group date from
220 million years ago, making turtles one of the oldest reptile groups
and a more ancient group than snakes or crocodilians.
 Of the 356 known species alive today, some are highly endangered.
 Turtles are ectotherms—animals commonly called cold-blooded.
 Because of their high metabolic rate, leatherback sea turtles have a
body temperature that is noticeably higher than that of the
surrounding water.
 Turtles are classified as amniotes, along with other reptiles, birds,
and mammals.
 Like other amniotes, turtles breathe air and do not lay eggs
underwater, although many species live in or around water.
 The study of turtles is called cheloniology, after the Greek word for
turtle. It is also sometimes called testudinology, after the Latin name
for turtles.

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 Terrapin:
 A terrapin is one of several small species of testudines living
in fresh or brackish water.

 Terrapins do not form a taxonomic unit and may not be related. Many
belong to the families Geoemydidae and Emydidae.

 The name "terrapin" is derived from torope, a word in the Native American
Algonquian language that referred to the species, Malaclemys terrapin.
 It appears that it became part of common usage during the colonial era of
North America and was carried back to Great Britain.

Tortoise:
 Tortoises are land turtles that live in a variety of habitats, ranging
from deserts to rain forests, in parts of Europe, Asia, Africa, North America,
South America, Madagascar and islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
 Their diet mainly consists of grasses, fruits, flowers and other vegetation,
although some species also eat carrion. The average lifespan varies by
species, with gopher tortoises living over 40 years and giant tortoises living
to be over 100 years old.
 Have thick, short legs and a heavy carapace, or shell.
 Their coloring ranges from dull grays and browns to brighter shades of
yellow and green.
 Tortoises come in a wide range of sizes, depending on the species.
 Smaller tortoises, such as the parrot-beaked tortoise, have an average shell
length of 4 inches and only weigh a few pounds.
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  Larger species, such as the Aldabra giant tortoise, have a shell length of 47
inches and can weigh up to 550 pounds.

AnatomY and MorPhology:

Neck retraction:
 Turtles are divided into two groups, according to how they
retract their necks into their shells (something the ancestral
Proganochelys could not do). The mechanism of neck
retraction differs phylogenetically: the suborder Pleurodira
retracts laterally to the side, anterior to shoulder girdles, while
the suborder Cryptodira retracts straight back, between
shoulder girdles.

 These motions are largely due to the morphology and

arrangement of cervical vertebrae.Of all recent turtles, the
cervical column consists of nine joints and eight vertebrae,
which are individually independent.

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  Since these vertebrae are not fused and are rounded, the neck
is more flexible, being able to bend in the backwards and
sideways directions.The primary function and evolutionary
implication of neck retraction is thought to be for feeding
rather than protection.

 Neck retraction and reciprocal extension allows the turtle to

reach out further to capture prey while swimming.Neck
expansion creates suction when the head is thrust forward and
the oropharynx is expanded, and this morphology suggests the
retraction function is for feeding purposes as the suction helps
catch prey.
 The protection the shell provides the head when it is retracted
is therefore not the main function of retraction, thus is an
exaptation. As for the difference between the two methods of
retraction, both Pleurodirans and Cryptodirans use the quick
extension of the neck as a method of predation, so the
difference in retraction mechanism is not due to a difference in
ecological niche.

Head:
 Most turtles that spend most of their lives 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.
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  These species of turtle can hide from predators in shallow water, where they
lie entirely submerged except for their eyes and nostrils. Near their eyes, sea
turtles possess glands that produce salty tears that rid their body of excess
salt taken in from the water they drink.

 Turtles have rigid beaks and use their jaws to cut and chew food. Instead of
having teeth, which they appear to have lost about 150-200 million years
ago, 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. They use their tongues to swallow food, but unlike
most reptiles, they cannot stick out their tongues to catch food.

Shell:
 The upper shell of the turtle is called the carapace. The lower shell that
encases the belly is called the plastron. The carapace and plastron are joined
together on the turtle's sides by bony structures called bridges. The inner
layer of a turtle's shell is made up of about 60 bones that include portions of
the backbone and the ribs, meaning the turtle cannot crawl out of its shell.
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  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 the
fibrous protein keratin that also makes up the scales of other reptiles. These
scutes overlap the seams between the shell bones and add strength to the
shell.
 Some turtles do not have horny scutes; for example, the leatherback sea
turtle and the soft-shelled turtles have shells covered with leathery skin
instead.
 The shape of the shell gives helpful clues about how a turtle lives. Most
tortoises have a large, dome-shaped shell that makes it difficult for predators
to crush the shell between their jaws.
 One of the few exceptions is the African pancake tortoise, which has a flat,
flexible shell that allows it to hide in rock crevices. Most aquatic turtles have
flat, streamlined shells, which aid in swimming and diving. American
snapping turtles and musk turtles have small, cross-shaped plastrons that
give them more efficient leg movement for walking along the bottom of
ponds and streams.

Respiration:
 Respiration, for many amniotes, is achieved by the contraction and
relaxation of specific muscle groups (i.e. intercostals, abdominal muscles,
and/or a diaphragm) attached to an internal rib-cage that can expand or
contract the body wall thus assisting airflow in and out of the lungs.
 The ribs of Chelonians, however, are fused with their carapace and external
to their pelvic and pectoral girdles, a feature unique among turtles. This rigid
shell is not capable of expansion, and by rendering their rib-cage immobile,
Testudines have had to evolve special adaptations for respiration.
 Turtle pulmonary ventilation occurs by using specific groups of abdominal
muscles attached to their viscera and shell that pull the lungs ventrally
during inspiration, where air is drawn in via a negative pressure gradient
(Boyle's Law). In expiration, the contraction of the transversus abdominus is
the driving force by propelling the viscera into the lungs and expelling air
under positive pressure.
 Conversely, the relaxing and flattening of the oblique abdominis muscle
pulls the transversus back down which, once again, draws air back into the
lungs. Important auxiliary muscles used for ventilatory processes are the
pectoralis, which is used in conjunction with the transverse abdominis

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 during inspiration, and the serratus, which moves with the abdominal
oblique accompanying expiration.
 The lungs of Testudines are multi-chambered and attached their entire length
down the carapace. The number of chambers can vary between taxa, though
most commonly they have three lateral chambers, three medial chambers,
and one terminal chamber.
 As previously mentioned, the act of specific abdominal muscles pulling
down the viscera (or pushing back up) is what allows for respiration in
turtles. Specifically, it is the turtles large liver that pulls or pushes on the
lungs. Ventral to the lungs, in the coelomic cavity, the liver of turtles is
attached directly to the right lung, and their stomach is directly attached to
the left lung by the ventral mesopneumonium, which is attached to their
liver by the ventral mesentery.

Skin and molting:

 The outer layer of the shell is part of the skin; each scute (or plate) on the
shell corresponds to a single modified scale. The remainder of the skin has
much smaller scales, similar to the skin of other reptiles.
 Turtles do not molt their skins all at once as snakes do, but continuously in
small pieces. When turtles are kept in aquaria, small sheets of dead skin can
be seen in the water (often appearing to be a thin piece of plastic) having
been sloughed off when the animals deliberately rub themselves against a
piece of wood or stone.
 Tortoises also shed skin, but dead skin is allowed to accumulate into thick
knobs and plates that provide protection to parts of the body outside the
shell.
 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 one
knows how many scutes are produced in a year.[36] 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.

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 Tail of the Turtle

Limbs:
Terrestrial tortoises have short, sturdy feet. Tortoises are famous for moving
slowly, in part because of their heavy, cumbersome shells, which restrict stride
length.

Skeleton of snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina)

 Amphibious turtles normally have limbs similar to those of tortoises, except

that the feet are webbed and often have long claws. These turtles swim using
all four feet in a way similar to the dog paddle, with the feet on the left and
right side of the body alternately providing thrust.
 Large turtles tend to swim less than smaller ones, and the very big species,
such as alligator snapping turtles, hardly swim at all, preferring to walk
along the bottom of the river or lake. As well as webbed feet, turtles have
very long claws, used to help them clamber onto riverbanks and floating logs
upon which they bask.

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  Male turtles tend to have particularly long claws, and these appear to be used
to stimulate the female while mating. While most turtles have webbed feet,
some, such as the pig-nosed turtle, have true flippers, with the digits being
fused into paddles and the claws being relatively small.
 Sea turtles are almost entirely aquatic and have flippers instead of feet. Sea
turtles fly through the water, using the up-and-down motion of the front
flippers to generate thrust; the back feet are not used for propulsion but may
be used as rudders for steering.
 Sea turtles have very limited mobility on land, and apart from the dash from
the nest to the sea as hatchlings, male sea turtles normally never leave the
sea. Females must come back onto land to lay eggs. They move very slowly
and laboriously, dragging themselves forwards with their flippers.

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