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Warm, dry El Nino weather puts baby sea turtle at risk

When leatherback turtle hatchlings dig out of their nests buried in the sandy Playa Grande beach in northwest Costa Rica, they enter a world filled with dangers. This critically endangered species faces threats that include ...

Biology / Ecology

created May 23, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Researchers reveal ancient giant turtle fossil

Picture a turtle the size of a Smart car, with a shell large enough to double as a kiddie pool. Paleontologists from North Carolina State University have found just such a specimen – the fossilized remains ...

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created May 17, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 4 | with audio podcast

Movement patterns of endangered turtle vary from Pacific to Atlantic

The movement patterns of critically endangered leatherback turtles vary greatly depending on whether the animals live in the North Atlantic or the Eastern Pacific, with implications for feeding behavior and ...

Biology / Ecology

created May 16, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Scientists lift lid on turtle evolution

The turtle is a closer relative of crocodiles and birds than of lizards and snakes, according to researchers who claim to have solved an age-old riddle in animal evolution.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created May 16, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 1

Questions about incredible sea turtle migration answered

Immediately after emerging from their underground nests on the lush beaches of eastern Florida, loggerhead sea turtles scramble into the sea and embark alone on a migration that takes them around the entire ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created May 15, 2012 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Weed-eating fish 'help protect jobs, livelihoods'

Jobs, livelihoods and ecotourism industries can benefit from having a diverse supply of weed-eating fish on the world's coral reefs, marine researchers say.

Space & Earth / Environment

created May 08, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Conservationists' dilemma as threatened jaguar develops taste for endangered turtle

(Phys.org) -- How do you protect two species facing extinction when one begins to prey heavily on the other?

Biology / Ecology

created May 08, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Rare turtles returned to the Philippines

Thirty-one live turtles, including some rare species, that were smuggled to Hong Kong were flown back to the Philippines on Friday but five others did not live to make the trip, an official said.

Biology / Ecology

created Apr 27, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 1

Hong Kong to return rare Philippine turtles

Thirty-six live turtles seized from a smuggler, including 20 of one of the world's rarest species, are to be returned from Hong Kong to the Philippines, officials said on Wednesday.

Biology / Ecology

created Apr 25, 2012 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Freeing loggerhead turtles comes at a price

When loggerhead turtles are accidentally captured by humans, a recovery process follows, the complexity of which varies according to the turtle's injuries. Spanish researchers have analysed the process of ...

Biology / Ecology

created Apr 20, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Fishermen blast premier dive sites off Indonesia

(AP) -- Coral gardens that were among Asia's most spectacular, teeming with colorful sea life just a few months ago, have been transformed into desolate gray moonscapes by fishermen who use explosives or ...

Biology / Ecology

created Apr 20, 2012 | popularity 3.7 / 5 (3) | comments 4

Ant queens lay more eggs as they age

Ant queens get better at laying eggs as they get older, researchers report in the Apr. 11 issue of the open access journal PLoS ONE. Furthermore, this high egg-laying rate did not shorten the queens' life spans, as would ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Apr 11, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Tackle fungal forces to save crops, forests and endangered animals, scientists say

More than 600 million people could be fed each year by halting the spread of fungal diseases in the world's five most important crops, according to research published today in the journal Nature.

Biology / Ecology

created Apr 11, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Global effort launched to save turtles from extinction

The Wildlife Conservation Society announced today a new strategy that draws on all of the resources and expertise across the institution – from its Zoos and Aquarium, Global Health Program, and Global ...

Biology / Ecology

created Apr 11, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Ancient civilizations reveal ways to manage fisheries for sustainability

In the search for sustainability of the ocean's fisheries, solutions can be found in a surprising place: the ancient past.

Biology / Ecology

created Mar 23, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (4) | comments 4 | with audio podcast

Turtle

Cryptodira Pleurodira and see text

Turtles are reptiles of the order Testudines (the crown group of the superorder Chelonia), characterised by a special bony or cartilaginous shell developed from their ribs that acts as a shield. "Turtle" may either refer to the Testudines as a whole, or to particular Testudines which make up a form taxon that is not monophyletic—see also sea turtle, terrapin, tortoise, and the discussion below.

The order Testudines includes both extant (living) and extinct species. The earliest known turtles date from 215 million years ago, making turtles one of the oldest reptile groups and a more ancient group than lizards and snakes. About 300 species are alive today, and some are highly endangered.

Like other reptiles, turtles are ectotherms—varying their internal temperature according to the ambient environment, commonly called cold-blooded. Like other amniotes (reptiles, dinosaurs, birds, and mammals), they breathe air and do not lay eggs underwater, although many species live in or around water. The largest turtles are aquatic.

For more information about Turtle, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

Related topics: eggs , sea turtles