Biology of turtles

Preface

The first beasts that we identify as turtles emerged abruptly in the Triassic about 220 million years ago. Since then, countless diverse lineages of turtles—terrestrial, marine, freshwater, and in-between— have come and gone, yet many lineages persist for tens of millions to more than 100 million years. All bring with them the suite of traits that are uniquely turtle: a bony shell, usually a retractable neck, lack of trunk musculature, and limb girdles located inside the rib cage (instead of lying outside of it). The reptiles we identify as turtles, or testudines, or chelonians, have captivated many naturalists and other scientists because of these and other unique traits and their consequences.

Some 180 years ago while in Jena, Germany, Ludwig Heinrich Bojanus developed an interest
in the anatomy of the European turtle Emys obicularis. By dissecting specimens and illustrating
their anatomy over the next decade, Bojanus authored one of the most detailed studies on any
single vertebrate species, Anatome Testudinis Europaeae (1819–1821). This unparalleled book on turtle anatomy represents the intersection of his interests as a naturalist, comparative anatomist, veterinary surgeon, and teacher of anatomical art. It was because of this historical backdrop that the biology, particularly the anatomy, of turtles was visited again fittingly at the Sixth International Congress of Vertebrate Morphology, which was held in Jena in 2001. The symposium and its many contributed papers served as the foundation upon which this volume is based. However, this book goes beyond a morphologically based symposium in recognizing that the structures of turtles are particularly interesting and best understood within the context of their formation, their diversity of functions, their novelty, and their evolution. Whereas several areas of interest (e.g., turtle genetics, sensory systems and behavior, and life history evolution) are not included—as these fields continue to progress rapidly without a clear stable point—we have brought together a wide range of discussions on other novel features of turtles.

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