Shelless Turtles

Discussion in 'General Science & Technology' started by Orleander, Sep 5, 2009.

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  1. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

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    Since not all lizards have legs, do all turtles have shells? :confused

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  3. Killjoy Propelling The Farce!! Valued Senior Member

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    This one doesn't...
    :bugeye:

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    Weirdness aside, however, there is the leatherback sea turtle -

     
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  5. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

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    OMG! That is freakish. We have leatherbacks here but they look nothing like that. Apparently we are calling them the incorrect thing.

    How the hell does that thing survive a predator?

    oh, and thanks Killjoy!:thankyou:
     
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  7. Killjoy Propelling The Farce!! Valued Senior Member

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    ummmm... Actually, I don't think that thing is your run-of-the-mill leatherback.

    Looks more like a mutation or 'birth defect". I just did a Google search for "shelless turtle" and that photo came up as something someone found on a beach. The actual leatherback described on the wiki page is probably the one you're familiar with.

    hee hee hee hee hee !

    Oh... ...I mean, uhhhh...
     
  8. Fraggle Rocker Staff Member

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    I would assume that it's lighter than a turtle with a real shell, and therefore can swim faster.

    BTW, snakes and lizards are very closely related. They comprise a single order of reptiles, unlike turtles and alligators, which each have their own order. In one sense, a true snake is a legless lizard.
     
  9. Killjoy Propelling The Farce!! Valued Senior Member

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    I finally found a proper description of the "shell free" turtle in the photo:

     
  10. Anti-Flag Pun intended Registered Senior Member

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    If a turtle has no shell, is it naked or homeless?
     
  11. Fraggle Rocker Staff Member

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    I think we've just found part of the answer to how it deals with predators.

    Also don't forget that reptiles are lung-breathers whereas most of the animals in the sea are gill-breathers. Lung breathing pulls in much more oxygen and therefore generates much more energy than gill breathing. This is why a fight between an alligator and a shark of equal size is no contest. Of course endothermic (warm-blooded) animals--mammals and birds--have an even more energetic metabolism, which is why the alligator had better skedaddle if he sees a dolphin of equal size coming after him.
     
  12. Killjoy Propelling The Farce!! Valued Senior Member

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    The Wikipedia page on the Cantor's giant turtle has some other revealing tidbits.

     
  13. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

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    this is what we have around here. Its called a leather back, but I think its really a soft shelled turtle

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