Cartoons often suggest turtles wear shells like removable armor. Those stories show turtles stepping out, swapping shells, or treating them like clothing. Biology disagrees. A turtle shell is not an ...

It's a long-held idea that turtles can tuck their heads into their shells when threatened. But is it true? And is this protective trick why turtles the world over have shells today? The answer is that ...

Sea turtles can survive being struck by a boat propeller — but as they heal from the trauma, their shells often change shape, bulging from air building up within their bodies. That throws the animals' ...

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 ...

Turtle shells evolved over the course of 300 million years, but self-defense wasn't the initial driver, researchers think. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate ...