A red-eared slider turtle named Peanut in honor of her figure-eight-shaped shell celebrated her 41st birthday in Missouri. Photo courtesy of John Miller/Missouri Department of Conservation Aug. 25 ...

When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The broad-shelled river turtle (Chelodina expansa) falls into a group known as side-neck turtles.

Turtles are famous for their shells, but this feature is far more than a protective covering. A turtle’s shell is actually fused to its skeleton, meaning its ribs and spine became part of a living ...

Shell integration typically involves 50 to 60 individual bones fusing into a permanent structural cage. The carapace creates a mechanical constraint that prevents the chest from expanding during ...

What do you think of when you hear the word “tortoise”? The giant tortoises that lumber along like tanks over the Galapagos Islands in the Pacific and the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean? The gopher ...