#testudinata

I have been blessed by the summer turtle.  That means my summer is going to be full of good luck.

Every year there is always a turtle hanging out at the front door.  Not sure why.  This one wasn’t the first one.  There was one that hung out underneath the carport every summer and it was a good-sized one.  I figured it was the turtle I brought him in ‘06 and let go (it was one I found near home so it was a native).  

A study of Saurian morphology: Testudinata (part 3)

The final batch of Testudinata covers the suborder Cryptodira, the group of turtles which can retract their neck and tuck it inside their shell.

Tirtouga Archelon, the second largest turtle ever after last week’s Stupendemys, had a leathery or bony carapace instead of solid shell. It was a marine turtle, whose closest living relative is the leatherback turtle. 

Sinemys lived in Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous China and Japan. Its common name, the flying turtle, is based on its most recognizable feature, the large protrusions on its sides. One species of Sinemys was named S. gamera due to its resemblance to the kaiju Gamera. Ok I need to know which one of you dorks named this.

Macrochelys, which includes the alligator snapping turtle, is an extant group of North American turtles well known for their powerful jaws and alligator-like ridges on their shell.

And thus this post wraps up the clade Testudinata. Before we move on to Sauropterygia, I’d like to mention that I now have Patreon. Formal announcement will follow later, but as a quick summary, everyone who pledged this month will get the high-resolution file of all my daily drawings up to the end of February (approx 65 drawings).

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A study of Saurian morphology: Testudinata (part 1)

Considering the amount of details they all carry on their back and how difficult it is to find any online data about weird, old, dead turtles... I can safely report that. Turtles. Are. Hard. (sorry)

Anyway, here are three basal testudines to kick off the clade. Proganochelys is the oldest stem-turtle known to date from late Triassic. It had a heavily armored shell, spiked tail that ended with a club, and neck spikes to protect its non-retractable neck.

Kayentachelys lived in Early Jurassic Kayenta Formation (now Arizona). It was recently identified to be more primitive than previously thought, placing it outside the two major groups containing all extant turtles.

Meiolania, being a primitive genus, only went extinct as recent as 2,000-3,000 years ago. It was a large terrestrial turtle which had knob like protrusions on the sides of its head and spiky tails superficially resembling Glyptodonts.

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Terrapene clausa from Bell's A monograph of the Testudinata by University of Glasgow Library on Flickr.

"Thomas Bell: A Monograph of the Testudinata London: 1832-1836 Sp Coll f276