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      Tetrapod ZoologyTetrapod Zoology

      A very quick history of turtles

      • By Darren Naish on November 17, 2012
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      And all of this will be elaborated on, in time: this was meant to be the briefest and simplest of introductions.

      For previous Tet Zoo articles on turtles, see...

      • Hard-shelled sea turtles and a diet of glass
      • Gilbert White's pet tortoise, and what is 'grey literature' anyway?
      • Giant African softshells - wow!
      • Giraffe-necked giant tortoises
      • Matamata: turtle-y awesome to the extreme
      • The familiar Matamata, known to us all since the 1700s, and its long, fat neck (matamatas part II)
      • "Adaptation perfected" (possibly) in a turtle's head (matamatas part III)
      • Turtles that suck, turtles that blow (matamatas part IV)
      • Giant fossil matamata turtles (matamatas part V)
      • Necks for sex? No thank you, we're sauropod dinosaurs (includes brief discussion of Galapagos tortoises)
      • The goat-eating hot water bottle turtles
      • In case you forget, softshell turtles are insanely weird
      • Terrifying sex organs of male turtles

      The views expressed are those of the author(s) and are not necessarily those of Scientific American.

      ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)

      author-avatar

        Darren Naish is a science writer, technical editor and palaeozoologist (affiliated with the University of Southampton, UK). He mostly works on Cretaceous dinosaurs and pterosaurs but has an avid interest in all things tetrapod. His publications can be downloaded at darrennaish.wordpress.com. He has been blogging at Tetrapod Zoology since 2006. Check out the Tet Zoo podcast at tetzoo.com! Follow Darren Naish on Twitter

        Recent Articles by Darren Naish

        • The End of Tetrapod Zoology, ver 3
        • Dinosaurs in the Wild: An Inside View
        • Speculative Zoology, a Discussion

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