Turtles
- Turtles have rigid beaks and use their jaws to cut and chew food.
- Turtles used to have teeth, which they appear to have lost about 150-200 million years ago.
- The upper shell of the turtle is called the carapace.
- The lower shell that encases the belly is called the plastron.
- Shells are commonly colored brown, black, or olive green.
- It has been reported that wood turtles are better than white rats at learning to navigate mazes although slower when running them.
- Even though some turtles spend large amounts of their lives underwater, all turtles and tortoises breathe air so they are forced to surface regularly to get a fresh breath.
- Like other reptiles, turtles lay eggs.
- A turtle’s diet varies greatly depending on where it spends most of it’s time.