Reptiles 4:
TURTLES and
Extinct Reptiles
Ms. Bridgeland
5th Grade
Turtles – “Testudines” –have
existed for 215 million years.
Turtles
 Can
live in the ocean, in fresh water, and
on land.
 Turtles
that live on land are commonly
called “tortoises”
 Turtle
= a reptile whose body is covered
by a protective shell that includes ribs and
a backbone
How can their shells be used?
 For
protection
 SOME turtles (not all) can draw their
heads, legs, and tail inside their shells for
protection –an example is the box turtle
Upper shell is called a “carapace.”
Lower shell is called a “plastron.”
How do Turtles eat?
 They
feed in a variety of ways, but:
 ALL
turtles have a sharp-edged beak
instead of teeth
 NO
TEETH for turtles
 Can
be herbivores OR carnivores
 Carnivores:
eat jellyfish
 Herbivores:
Leatherbacks
Galapagos
tortoise eats cacti
Can
you think of
reptiles that have
gone extinct?
Dinosaurs
 Reptiles
that went extinct about 65 million years ago
 Some biologists think that certain birds descended
from dinosaurs
 Unlike today’s ectothermic reptiles, some dinosaurs
were endothermic
 Dinosaurs were the earliest vertebrates that had
legs positioned beneath their bodies instead of out
to the side like current reptiles
Some scientists believed that
Dinosaurs evolved from BIRDS
Dinosaurs