Turtles Flashcards
what are the types of turtles?
cryptodira: (hidden neck- goes inside)
pleudira: side bending neck
what are the parts of the shell called?
top/ dorsal: carapace
bottom/ventral: plastron
what is the plastron and carapace made from?
layer on bone then covered with layers of scute (made from keratin
what is the difference between tortoises and turtles
the forelimbs of are flipper like in marine turtles and scutes are much smoother
how does the vertebrae work in turtles?
the bony part of the carapace is the flatten ribs one the vetrebrae and is comprised of endochondral and dermal bone
how do turtles breathe?
inhalation: the muscles pull the viscera down and out allowing volume to increase and pressure to decrease so air flows in
exhalation: the muscles relax the viscera causing h lungs to decrease in volume and increase in pressure moving the air out
also by skin and cloacal bursae
how do turtles reproduce?
internal fertilization and with many many offsprings with no parental investment
- temperatures affect sex of offspring so change in environment may affect populations
what are the challenges turtles face?
-they are prey for many creatures
- their egg laying habitat gets destroyed or populated by humans
- our garbage looks like their food (jelly fish)
explain the parts of turtle heart and why it is the way it is
- one sinus venous
- right and left atrium
- one ventricle with three seperations
- 2 aorta and one pulmonary trunk
- muscular ridges to separate the ventricle during contraction when blood pressure changes
- they can reediest all the blood to the systemic system if they are swimming, if breathing rate is low or needed for digestion
explain the circulation of turtles
deoxygenated blood
- sinus venous
- right atrium
- cavum pulmonae
- pulmonary trunk
oxygenated blood
- left atria
- cavum arteriosum
- interventricular canal
- cavum venous
- left and right aorta
what are the types of fossil turtles
- proganochelys
- odontochelys
- eunotosaurus
how did the shells of turtles evolve?
plastron developed before the carapace
there was an intermediate shell with just broad and flatten ribs
Why did the scapula and pectoral girdle get inside the ribs
they are now able to get inside their shells
what are the hypothesis about why shells evolved?
- protection
odontochleys used the platrons so they can swim on surface of water without being seen - fossorial lifestyle (more accepted)
eunotosaurus used intermediate shell to for muscle attachments to dig because having incomplete shell for protection wouldn’t be a benefit cause it makes it harder to walk
what are the hypothesis about the hiding and bending of neck
- protection
to hide but side neck doesn’t do much - feeding (better)
neck is flexible to catch prey quickly as bodies are slow
