Turtle Refers to all members of testudines, is the oldest living reptiles on the earth. The most obvious feature of them is the strong shell on back, allow them to hide heads and limbs inside when being attacked. Most species of turtles are sarcophagous, feed on worms, conches, shrimps and little fishes, as well as plant leaves. Turtles usually live on land, but some species live under water, called sea turtles. Turtle is a kind of long living animals, some species could live for up to hundred years in natural environment. Evolution Process of Turtle Fossil As known so far, the most primitive turtles are the original jaw turtles (Latin name: proganchelys quenstedti), with shells similar to modern turtles’, they probably lived in 200 million years ago. All the turtles have shells since they appeared on the earth, although the offsprings of some species changed differently later. For instance, the soft-shelled turtles have calipash instead of cuticle. Leatherback turtles’ shells are degenerated, made up by lots of tiny blades of bone, which do not connect with bone lamellas. Because the turtle shells are very hard and easily to be preserved, most turtle fossils found are shell fossils. Moreover, the different species of turtles have different structure and form shells, this feature becomes the main basis to distinguish turtles’ species.

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