Cartoons often suggest turtles wear shells like removable armor. Those stories show turtles stepping out, swapping shells, or ...

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.

"They show now how developmental steps [in the turtle] could have led to this initial formation" of the turtle's shell. In addition to the overt peculiarity of the turtle's shell, or carapace -- which ...

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 ...