Do turtles have a backbone?
Turtles and tortoises are the only animals with a backbone whose shoulder blades are inside their rib cage.
How does the pelvis of a turtle work?
Like all tetrapods (four-limbed vertebrates), turtles have a pelvis that is made up of three bones that have fused together (the pubis, ischium, and ilium). In most tetrapods, the pelvis swings back and forth as the animal moves its legs – go ahead and walk around for a bit, paying attention to your hips swaying back and forth with each step.
How are a turtle and a tortoise alike?
As might be expected, as closely related reptiles both turtles and tortoises have plenty of physical traits in common. Both turtles and tortoises: Are encased in a bony shell with scutes (thickened horny or boned plates) made of keratine. Have ribs and vertebrae that are fused to their shells.
What kind of shell does a turtle have?
Turtles and tortoises are the only reptiles with tough, bony shells. The shell has an outer layer of scutes made of hornlike material called keratin and an inner layer of bony plates. There are two parts to the shell of a turtle: the upper portion is called the carapace and the bottom half is called the plastron.
How is the pelvic girdle in a cryptodire turtle?
In cryptodire turtles, the pelvic girdle’s morphology looks pretty similar to your typical tetrapod’s – the ilium attaches to the sacral vertebrae (lower backbone), and the pelvis just sort of hangs out as a place where the leg meets the rest of the body.
Like all tetrapods (four-limbed vertebrates), turtles have a pelvis that is made up of three bones that have fused together (the pubis, ischium, and ilium). In most tetrapods, the pelvis swings back and forth as the animal moves its legs – go ahead and walk around for a bit, paying attention to your hips swaying back and forth with each step.
In cryptodire turtles, the pelvic girdle’s morphology looks pretty similar to your typical tetrapod’s – the ilium attaches to the sacral vertebrae (lower backbone), and the pelvis just sort of hangs out as a place where the leg meets the rest of the body.
What are the parts of a turtle?
The turtle shell is made up of two parts: the carapace (top, rounded shell) and the plastron (the bottom shell). Both shells are made of fused bone. In fact, turtle have vertebrae making up their spinal cord, just as humans do, but their vertebrae are fused to their shell.
Where is the shoulder girdle located in a turtle?
The shoulder girdle in turtles is made up of two bones, the scapula and the procoracoid. Both the anterior and posterior pelvis of turtles are located within the shell and hence are effectively within the rib-cage; the trunk ribs grow over the shoulder girdle during development.
How many vertebrae do turtles have?
eight cervical vertebrae
All turtles have eight cervical vertebrae (CV1–CV8) (Supplementary Fig. S1) (Williams 1950, Müller et al. 2010), which articulate along their vertebral centra (“central articulation”) and their zygapophyses (see Fig. 2 for terminology).
Is a turtle shell a spine?
Did you know that a turtle’s shell is a made of bone and is a part of the turtle’s spine? A turtle’s shell is as much a part of its body as our skeleton is to ours.
