TURTLES AND TORTOISES
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
TURTLES AND TORTOISES
are REPTILES
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
TURTLES AND TORTOISES
What does that mean?
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
TURTLES AND TORTOISES
Ectothermic, oviparous, “scales” –
in this case, a protective shell
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
TURTLES AND TORTOISES
Basically lizards with a suit of armor
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
TURTLES AND TORTOISES
Can you identify these specimens?
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
TURTLES AND TORTOISES
South American
Red footed tortoise
Can you identify these specimens?
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
TURTLES AND TORTOISES
South American Red
footed tortoise –
located in our
Reptile House
and…
Can you identify these specimens?
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
TURTLES AND TORTOISES
South American Red footed tortoise
– located in our Reptile House
and… in the Education Dept. =
Jabuti
Can you identify these specimens?
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
TURTLES AND TORTOISES
Eastern box turtle
Can you identify these specimens?
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
TURTLES AND TORTOISES
Eastern box turtle –
Located in… ???
Can you identify these specimens?
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
TURTLES AND TORTOISES
Eastern box turtle – Located
in… Education Dept. =
Timmy
Can you identify these specimens?
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
TURTLES AND TORTOISES
Eastern box turtle – Located in…
Education Dept. = Timmy
Are there other box turtles at the Zoo?
Can you identify these specimens?
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
TURTLES AND TORTOISES
Eastern box turtle – Located in… Education
Dept. = Timmy
Are there other box turtles at the Zoo? YES!
Indochinese box turtle in the Reptile House
Can you identify these specimens?
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
TURTLES AND TORTOISES
African Pancake
tortoise
Can you identify these specimens?
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
TURTLES AND TORTOISES
African Pancake
tortoise – located
in… ??
Can you identify these specimens?
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
TURTLES AND TORTOISES
African Pancake
tortoise – located in…
Reptile House
Can you identify these specimens?
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
TURTLES AND TORTOISES
What is the signature feature of this
particular tortoise?
African Pancake
tortoise – located in…
Reptile House
Can you identify these specimens?
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
TURTLES AND TORTOISES
What is the signature feature of this particular tortoise?
Shell is flattened due to ability to squeeze itself into small
openings to escape predators
African Pancake
tortoise – located in…
Reptile House
Can you identify these specimens?
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
TURTLES AND TORTOISES
What is the signature feature of this particular tortoise?
Shell is flattened due to ability to squeeze itself into small openings to escape
predators – thus we cannot say that ALL tortoises have rounded shells =
always exceptions in the animal kingdom
African Pancake
tortoise – located in…
Reptile House
Can you identify these specimens?
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
TURTLES AND TORTOISES
North American spotted turtle
Clemmys guttata
Can you identify these specimens?
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
TURTLES AND TORTOISES
North American spotted turtle
Clemmys guttata
Located in… ???
Can you identify these specimens?
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
TURTLES AND TORTOISES
North American spotted turtle
Clemmys guttata
Located in… Reptile House and Education
Dept. = Clemm
Can you identify these specimens?
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
What is the difference
between a turtle, a tortoise
and a terrapin?
Red-eared slider turtles
Galapagos tortoise
Diamondback terrapin
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
What is a Chelonian?
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
In general, Chelonian is a good
scientific umbrella term = order
Chelonia, from the Greek word for
tortoise
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
Terminology differs depending on
endemic area of the world in which
species reside
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
For example, in Australia, only sea
turtles are called “turtles” – all others
are “tortoises”
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
Turtles
Spend most of their life in water
Hard shells (are their exceptions… ???)
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
Turtles (cont.)
Spend most of their life in water
Hard shells (are their exceptions… ???)
YES – soft-shelled turtles have fewer
bones, cartilaginous plastron and a
leathery covering
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
Turtles (cont.)
Spend most of their life in water
Hard shells (are their exceptions… YES – soft-shelled turtles have
fewer bones, cartilaginous plastron and a leathery covering)
Varying degrees of webbing on feet
Flattened legs for swimming
Live in fresh water (ponds and lakes) and the sea
Climb out onto banks, logs, or rocks to bask in the sun.
Burrow into the mud in cold weather - go into torpor until spring
Sea turtles especially adapted with long feet that form flippers and a
streamlined body shape – exit water only to lay eggs
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
Turtles (cont.)
Straight necks - Cryptodira - all North American turtles
Side necks - Pleurodira - refers to the way the turtle withdraws its
neck into its shell (they curve neck around and tuck it along the side)
Lifespan
slow growth pattern, mature at 5-7 years
depending on species, 25-50 years (red-eared sliders commonly
40, some Eastern box turtles alleged to make it to 100)
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
Tortoises
Live on land
Rounded or domed shells rather than shells streamlined for water (are
there exceptions? – remember our Pancake tortoise)
Eat low-growing shrubs, grasses, and even cactus
Elephantine hind legs, shovel-like forelegs for digging
Lifespan
Some species live 200+ years
Red-footed tortoise 50-60 years
Largest tortoise: Galapagos >500 lbs.
Smallest tortoise: Speckled Cape Padloper < 3”
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
Terrapins
Spend time in water and on land
Inhabit brackish, swampy areas in eastern and southern U.S. coast
Term not commonly used except for this particular species
Malaclemys terrapin terrapin (for you taxonomists)
Diamonback terrapin is the official reptile of what state?
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
Terrapins (cont.)
Spend time in water and on land
Inhabit brackish, swampy areas in eastern and southern U.S. coast
Term not commonly used except for this particular species
Malaclemys terrapin terrapin (for you taxonomists)
Diamonback terrapin is the official reptile of what state? -- Maryland, also
official mascot of U. of MD College Park; protected in MD
IUCN NT=near threatened
Check out
http://www.terrapinconservation.org/
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
Chelonian parts
Plastron = lower/under shell
Carapace = upper/top shell
To which structure is the carapace attached?
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
Chelonian parts
Plastron = lower/under shell
Carapace = upper/top shell
To which structure is the carapace attached? RIGHT! The spine!
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
Evolution
Cretaceous – 144-65 million years ago
Jurassic – 206-144 million years ago
Triassic – 248-206 million years ago
Oldest known turtles from late Triassic:
Odontochelys (only carapace and had teeth)
and – within just 10 million years –
Proganochelys (carapace and plastron, vestigial
teeth, spiked neck and tail, could not retract
head)
Permian – 290-248 million years ago
Ancestors of first turtles (possibly Owenetta)
living in Oklahoma
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
Development and Function
Ribs are immovable, so unable to breathe like other reptiles or
mammals. Instead, abdominal muscles perform the function of the
ribs: two muscles enlarge the chest cavity to breathe in, and others
press the organs against the lungs to force the air out.
Tortoise carapace hardens about 3 years after hatching
Eastern box plastron hinge firms up 2-6 years (Eastern box)
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
Development and Function (cont.)
As the shell (made from keratin) grows, the number of scutes remains
the same, but each becomes larger.
In some turtles, old scutes are shed and replaced by larger, new ones.
In other species, including box turtles, tortoises, and wood turtles, scutes
enlarge in diameter as new keratin is laid down.
Scutes that cover both halves of the shell are grouped and named - used
in species recognition
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
Development and Function (cont.)
Age estimation based on growth layers, however, can be erroneous
for several reasons:
Some turtles produce multiple growth zones per year.
Growth is determined by stressors in the environment, so age
determination by examination of growth rings would be less accurate in
wild turtles, than those kept in environments which do not change
significantly.
Growth layers may wear with age, so older turtles may be estimated to be
younger than they really are.
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
Development and Function (cont.)
Shell is a marvelous product of evolution - collar bone and pelvis have
been moved inside the rib cage which is then fused to the
shell. Somehow the ancestral form managed this feat -- so successful
that very few changes have been made to the basic turtle morphology
in over 200 million years.
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
Development and Function (cont.)
Turtle shells develop as embryonic ribs which eventually outgrow and
enclose the shoulder and hip bones, forming the upper shell
(carapace) and lower shell (plastron). The backbone fuses with the
flattened ribs, forming a rigid bony case for the vital organs.
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
Development and Function (cont.)
Legs have to be sturdy and dense for support so leg bones have little
marrow for blood cell production
Carapace has channels and spaces that produce red blood cells
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
Development and Function (cont.)
Shells differ in protective ability: soft-shelled turtles including
Leatherback sea turtles have a type of thick skin rather than hard
shell.
Box turtles hinges provide added protection to soft internal organs
BUT may not be fully functional until about 6 years old.
NOTE that mud and musk turtles have hinged plastrons, but they don’t
fully close
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
Development and Function (cont.)
Snapping Turtles!
Not very well protected by their shells. The plastron in particular is
tiny and doesn't begin to cover the animal.
Compensate by fierce defense if threatened and ability to swing neck
around greater than half-way back so, what does one NEVER do?
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
Development and Function (cont.)
Snapping Turtles!
Not very well protected by their shells. The plastron in particular is tiny and
doesn't begin to cover the animal.
Compensate by fierce defense if threatened and ability to swing neck
around greater than half-way back so, what does one NEVER do?
RIGHT! Never pick up a snapper with your hands, even toward the
rear sides of the shell. Use a stick to help move off the road.
Signature of a Snapping turtle is the V-shaped cuts in back of
plastron.
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
Development and Function (cont.)
Hearing: internal ear structures, although hearing isn't very important
because their senses of vision and smell are excellent.
Vision: seven types of cones for color reception give turtles the most
complex cone system described for vertebrates.
Many turtles have a horizontal black line running through their pupil
that remains horizontal and parallel with the horizon even when the
turtle is held vertically, suggesting that the line serves an optical
purpose, perhaps to detect polarized light.
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
Other Turtles at the Zoo
Yellow-spotted Amazon River Turtle
Located in the Rainforest
A type of side-necked turtle (waay cool!) – what term was that again?
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
Other Turtles at the Zoo
Yellow-spotted Amazon River Turtle
Located in the Rainforest
A type of side-necked turtle (waay cool!) – what term was that again?
RIGHT! Pleurodira
CITES II designation
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
Other Turtles at the Zoo
Giant South American River Turtle
Located in the Rainforest
These turtles engage in mutual grooming
Sex of hatchlings determined by temperature of the nest
Endangered and protected
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
Fun Facts!
Largest turtle: Leatherback 95” head-tail
Leatherbacks maintain core body temps higher than surrounding frigid
water (30-40 degrees), disputing the “cold blooded” label. They primarily
eat jellyfish -- esophagus has many backwards-pointing, stiff spines which
aid in swallowing soft-bodied foods. Incapable of chewing hard prey due
to their weak jaws.
Largest tortoise: Galapagos >500 lbs. Located in the Rainforest
No venomous or poisonous turtles (no teeth or venom sacs)
Baby turtles tend to be carnivores, adults omnivores, most tortoises
are herbivores (but NOTE: our Jabuti is sometimes offered pinkies!)
Young Loggerhead Turtles have an amazing navigation system,
involving detecting magnetic fields
Stinkpot or Musk Turtle (Maine) lets off musky smell when disturbed
Wood turtles, or “woodies" (Maine) thump the ground to make worms
think it's raining so they come up, then get eaten
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
Fun Facts!
Spotted turtle:
Lifespan up to 30 years, mature at 8-10 years
nest temperature dictates sex: cooler=more males
spot distribution varies and changes with age
sexually dimorphic: males elongated carapace and thicker,
longer tail, dark jaws while females have yellowish color on
jaws
Special concern in NYS
Habitat loss, sensitivity to pollution and toxins, and pet
trade threats
Clemm, 5 years old, is a “no touch” animal
How did Clemm get is name? Clemmys guttata
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
Fun Facts!
Red footed tortoise:
Lifespan 50-60 years
sexually dimorphic similar to Eastern box
Used for food – in South America, tortoises are considered
"fish" by the Catholic church and during holy week, redfoots are consumed in huge numbers
During mating make a clucking sound like a hen
“Jabuti” is the species name in Brazil
Cites II
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011
Fun Facts!
Box Turtles:
Shell so is so strong it can readily support weight 200 times greater than
its own (this DOES NOT mean you can stand on Timmy!)
slightly sexually dimorphic… males have longer, wider tails, more
flattened shells, orange or red eyes, and a slightly concave
plastron. Females have brown or light orange eyes and a very flat
plastron.
able to eat mushrooms which would make humans sick, and thus
if humans eat box turtles they may become ill
Females can store sperm up to 4 years, so can lay eggs for several
seasons from one mating
Even though turtles are considered aquatic as a group, box turtle
feet are only slightly webbed, shell is more tortoise-like
State reptile (and only land turtle) in North Carolina
Lifespan 30-40 years in the wild, may live up to 100 in captivity:
Timmy is 35
CITES II – threatened due to habitat loss and pet trade
Pamela M. Rose, Docent Class of 2002
Docent Training, January 2011