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TORTOISE

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Originally appearing in Volume V27, Page 67 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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TORTOISE . Of the three names generally used for this See also:

order of See also:

REPTILES (Lat. Reptilia, creeping things, from reptilis; ref ere, to creep; Gr. Ep7rety, whence the term " herpetology," for the science dealing with them)

reptiles, viz. tortoise, turtle and terrapin, the first is derived from the Old See also:

French word tortis, i.e. See also:

TWISTED

twisted, and was probably applied first to the See also:

COMMON

common See also:

EUROPEAN

European See also:

SPECIES

species on See also:

account of its curiously See also:

bent forelegs. Turtle is believed to be a corruption of the same word, but the origin of the name terrapin is unknown: since the See also:

time of the navigators of the 16th See also:

CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century it has been in See also:

general use for fresh-See also:

WATER

water species of the tropics, and especially for those of the New See also:

WORLD

World. The name tortoise is now generally applied to the terrestrial members of this See also:

GROUP

group of animals, and that of turtle to those which live in the See also:

sea or pass a See also:

GREAT

great See also:

PART

part of their existence in fresh water. They constitute one of the orders of reptiles, the Chelonia: toothless reptiles, with well See also:

DEVELOPED

developed limbs, with a dorsal and a ventral See also:

shell composed of numerous bony plates, large firmly fixed quadrates, a See also:

LONGITUDINAL

longitudinal anal opening and an unpaired copulatory See also:

ORGAN

organ. The whole shell consists of the dorsal, more or less See also:

CONVEX

convex See also:

CARAPACE (a Fr. word, from the Span. carapacho, a shield or armour)

carapace and the ventral plastron, both portions being joined laterally by the so-called See also:

BRIDGE

bridge. The carapace is (with the exception of Sphargis) formed by dermal ossifications which are arranged in See also:

REGULAR

regular See also:

SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

series, viz. a median See also:

ROW, JOHN (c. 1525—1580)

row (1 nuchal, mostly 8 neurals and 1-3 supracaudal or pygal plates), a right and See also:

LEFT

left row of costal plates which surround and partly replace the ribs, and a consider-able number (about 11 pairs) of marginal plates. The plastron consists of usually 9, rarely II, dermal bones, viz. paired epi-, hyo-, hypo- and xiphi-plastral plates and the unpaired endo-plastral; the latter is homologous with the interclavicle, the epi-plastra with the clavicles, the See also:

REST (O. Eng. rest, reste, bed, cognate with other Teutonic forms, e.g. Ger. Rast, Riiste, rest, and probably Gothic Rasta, league, i.e. resting or stopping place)

rest with so-called abdominal ribs of other reptiles. In most Chelonians the bony shell is covered with a hard epidermal coat, which is divided into large See also:

SHIELDS, JAMES (181b-1879)

shields, commonly called " See also:

TORTOISESHELL

tortoiseshell." These horny shields or scutes do not correspond in See also:

numbers and extent with the underlying bones, although there is a general, vague resemblance in their arrangement; for instance, there is a neural, a paired costal and a paired marginal series. The terminology may be learned from the accompanying illustrations (See also:

FIGS

figs. 1 and 2). The integuments of the See also:

head, See also:

NECK (O. Eng. hnecca; the word appears in many Teutonic languages; cf. Dutch ride, Ger. Nacken; in O. E. the common word was heals; cf. Ger. Hals)

neck, tail and limbs are either soft and smooth or scaly or tubercular, frequently with small osseous nuclei.

All the bones of the See also:

SKULL

skull are suturally See also:

UNITED

united. The dentary portion of the mandible consists of one piece only, both halves being completely fused together. s The See also:

PECTORAL

pectoral See also:

arch remains See also:

SEPARATE

separate in the median See also:

LINE

line; it consists of the coracoids, which slope backwards, and the scapulae, which stand upright and often abut against the inside of the first pair of costal plates. Near the glenoid cavity for the humerus arises from the scapula a See also:

long See also:

PROCESS

process which is directed transversely towards its See also:

FELLOW

fellow; it represents the acromial process of other vertebrates, although so much enlarged, and is neither the precoracoid, nor the clavicle, as stated by the thought-less. The tail is still best developed in the Chelydridae, shortest in the Trionychoidea. Since it contains the large copulatory organ, it is less reduced in the See also:

MALES

males. No Chelonians possess the slightest traces of See also:

TEETH (O.E. Eel); plural of tooth, O.E. top)

teeth, but their jaws are provided with horny sheaths, with hard and See also:

sharp edges, forming a See also:

BEAK (early forms beke and becke, from Fr. bec, late Lat. beccus, supposed to be a Gaulish word; the Celtic bec and beq, however, are taken from the English)

beak. The number of Chelonians known at See also:

PRESENT

present may be estimated at about 200, the fresh-water species being far the most numerous, and are abundant in well-watered districts of the tropical and sub-tropical zones. Their number and variety decrease beyond the tropics, and in the See also:

north they disappear entirely about the 5oth parallel in the western and about the 56th in the eastern hemisphere, whilst in the See also:

SOUTHERN

southern hemisphere the terrestrial forms seem to advance to 36° S. only. The marine turtles, which are spread over the whole of the See also:

EQUATORIAL

equatorial and sub-tropical seas, sometimes stray beyond those limits.

End of Article: TORTOISE

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