Totally Awesome Turtles!
An Informational Text About Turtles
Written By: Sarah Jayne Hoelscher
Turtles are amazing animals! They have roamed the earth for more than 200 million years. They evolved before mammals, birds, crocodiles, snakes, and even lizards. They are reptiles, and like many other reptiles, they are cold blooded.
Turtles can also be called tortoises, which is the general term used for land dwelling turtles.
Several species of turtles can live to be over a hundred years of age including the American Box Turtle, pictured above. This turtle can be found in East Tennessee!
Actually, North America contains a large variety of turtle species!
Turtles can also range in size from the 4-inch Bog Turtle to the 1500-pound Leathery Turtle.
Turtles live in the ocean, and on every continent except Antartica.
Turtles can live in almost any climate as long as it is warm enough for them to complete their breeding cycle.
Turtles have hard shells, and they are usually made out of bony plates covered with keratin. This is the same substance that forms your fingernails and hair.
The top part of a turtle's shell is the carapace; the flat underneath part is the plastron.
Leatherback sea turtles and softshell turtles don't have a hard bony plate, but instead have a rubbery skin.
Turtles have good eyesight and an excellent sense of smell. They have good hearing and sense of touch, and even the shell contains nerve endings.
Some of the aquatic turtles can absorb oxygen through the skin on their neck, allowing them to remain submerged underwater for extended periods of time and even enabling them to hibernate underwater.
Although many turtles spend large amounts of their lives underwater, all turtles and tortoises breathe air, and must surface at regular intervals to refill their lungs.
Sea turtles spend all of their adult lives in the water, and only surface to get air, except when the females come to land to lay their eggs.
Most land tortoises have high domed shells that offer protection from the snapping jaws of predators. Aquatic turtles tend to have flatter more aerodynamically shaped shells.
One exception to the dome-shaped tortoise shell is the Pancake Tortoise of East Africa that will wedge itself between narrow rocks when threatened and then inflates itself with air making extraction nearly impossible
Some more randon facts about Turtles:
- Some turtles can live for more than a year without food.
- Age 80 is middle-aged for galapagos tortoises.
- Baby sea turtles circle their nest once after hatching before heading toward the ocean.
- Some land turtles can actually out run a human on level ground.
- Some female turtles produce eggs four years after mating.
- Two galapagos tortoises will fight over territory or a female mate by seeing who can stretch their neck higher over the other.
Turtles have been around for millions of years, they are beautiful animals and should be appreciated and respected in their natural habitats.
Turtle References:
"Animal Planet :: Reptile Guide :: Turtles, Tortoises & Terrapins."Animal Planet : Pets, Wild Animals N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Apr. 2012. <http://animal.discovery.com/guides/rep>
Green Turtles, Green Turtle Pictures, Green Turtle Facts - National Geographic." Animals - Animal Pictures - Wild Animal Facts - Nat Geo Wild - National Geographic. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Apr. 2012. <http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/reptiles/green-turtle/>.
"Turtle Facts | Turtle Facts." Turtle Facts - Turtle information source | Turtle Facts | Turtle information source. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Apr. 2012. <http://eturtlefacts.com/turtle-facts>.
