Facts We Now Know

Turtle's and Tortoise's History

Turtles and tortoises have been on our earth for about 200 million years. Their ancestors lived only on land but then they started spending some time in the water. Throughout the years the turtles' bodies have become smoother.

An ancient turtle or tortoise is called the Proganochey turtle, which lived in the Triassic period. In the past, about 200 million years ago, turtles couldn’t retract their body into their shell like most turtles and tortoises today.

The Chinese Culture

Turtles and Tortoises have been important to Chinese culture and history. Chinese mythology also tells many stories about magical animals such as the phoenix, dragon, unicorn and turtle. The turtle is the only one of these magical animals to be actually living today. The Chinese believed the turtle to symbolise wisdom, wealth, long life and endurance. They also believed that the world is the back of the turtle and that the turtle shell has markings of heaven and earth and the roof of the universe. The turtle was one of the four guardians of the compass. A Chinese person called Fu Xi invented writing after examining the mysterious patterns on the back of the turtle.

Body

Legs

Tortoises have feet like an elephant. Turtles have flippers or webbed clawed feet.

Eyes

Turtles can see in colour, not in black and white like lots of other animals.

Sea turtles drink salt water then squeeze out the extra salt through very special tear glands.

Beak

Turtles and tortoises do not have teeth; they have beaks. Both herbivores and carnivores have beaks. If they did not have them, they would not be able to eat. The beaks are sharper for meat eaters but for the plant eaters, they are just sharp enough to grind up the plants.

Shell

The shell is the turtle's natural protection; it protects its body from predators, so its shell is really important to the turtle.

The shell is like part of the skeleton. It is like an exoskeleton. The appearance is a key part of how to identify a turtle or tortoise. Inside the shell there is space for its body parts.

A special thing about the shell is that the turtle cannot come out of its shell completely because part of its backbone is attached to the shell.

The top part of the shell is called a carapace and the bottom part of the shell is called the plastron. Not all shells are hard; some have soft shells, which unfortunately makes it easier for predators to eat them.

The turtle's shell is made out of the same material as our hair and fingernails.

Neck

The neck is a very important part of the turtle and tortoise. Turtle's necks come in many different shapes and sizes. For example, some turtles are snake neck turtles, their necks are a lot longer than any other turtles. Some turtles and tortoise’s necks have to come in from the side.

Predators

The main predators of the turtles and tortoises are humans. We hunt them for pets, their eggs, shells and skin. Some people in the world hunt turtles for a living, mainly in Asia and Africa. The turtle hunters have to be careful so they won't damage the shell. It is more valuable than other parts of the turtle or tortoise.

When sea turtles are born and running for the sea, different kinds of the birds try to eat them. That is why they lay so many eggs. Sea turtles have more eggs than other turtles or tortoises.

Life

Habitat

Sea turtles and tortoises have very different habitats. The sea turtles live in the water but also go onto shore or beaches to lay thousands of eggs. Tortoises live on land, but they go onto the water to cool down.

All turtles and tortoises sit under the warm sun to heat up.

Behaviour

When sea turtles mate they go out of water and try to find a place to mate and lay around 100 eggs. After hatching, hundreds of baby sea turtles run for the water because their life depends on making it there. When sea turtles are born, they are usually smaller than a human hand