Skip to main content
Scientific American
  • Cart 0
  • Forgot password?Loading
    Not yet registered?
  • |Newsletters
Advanced Search
  • Coronavirus
  • Health
  • Mind & Brain
  • Environment
  • Technology
  • Space & Physics
  • Video
  • Podcasts
  • Opinion
  • Store
  • Subscribe
  • Current Issue
  • Cart0
  • Sign In
  • Newsletters
      • Share
      • Latest

      Digital & 4-Year Archive

      Tetrapod ZoologyTetrapod Zoology

      A very quick history of turtles

      • By Darren Naish on November 17, 2012
      • Share on Facebook
      • Share on Twitter
      • Share on Reddit
      • Share on LinkedIn
      • Share via Email
      • Print
      Advertisement

      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

        Read This Next

        Climate Change

        The Arctic Is Warming Four Times Faster Than the Rest of the Planet

        Chelsea Harvey and E&E News

        Policy

        What Scientists Say about the Historic Climate Bill

        Andrea Thompson

        Animals

        Researchers Created a Potion That Turns Loud Lions into Placid Pussycats

        Karen Hopkin

        Health Care

        Telehealth Is Key to Trans Health Care

        Dallas Ducar and Scott Hadland | Opinion

        Neuroscience

        Newfound Brain Switch Labels Experiences as Good or Bad

        Ingrid Wickelgren

        Renewable Energy

        How Much Will the Climate Bill Reduce Emissions? It Depends

        Benjamin Storrow and E&E News

        Advertisement

        Newsletter

        Get smart. Sign up for our email newsletter.

        Sign Up

        Digital & 4-Year Archive

        Read More

        Previous

        Hammer-toothed skink SMASH!

        • By Darren Naish on November 15, 2012
        • 16
        Next

        Junk in the trunk: why sauropod dinosaurs did not possess trunks (redux, 2012)

        • By Darren Naish on November 20, 2012
        • 49

        Support Science Journalism

        Discover world-changing science. Explore our digital archive back to 1845, including articles by more than 150 Nobel Prize winners.

        Subscribe Now!Support Science Journalism

        Follow us

        • instagram
        • soundcloud
        • youtube
        • twitter
        • facebook
        • rss

        Scientific american arabic

        العربية
        • Return & Refund Policy
        • About
        • Press Room
        • FAQs
        • Contact Us
        • Site Map
        • Advertise
        • SA Custom Media
        • Terms of Use
        • Privacy Policy
        • California Consumer Privacy Statement
        • Use of cookies/Do not sell my data
        • International Editions
        Scientific American is part of Springer Nature, which owns or has commercial relations with thousands of scientific publications (many of them can be found at www.springernature.com/us). Scientific American maintains a strict policy of editorial independence in reporting developments in science to our readers.

        © 2022 Scientific American, a Division of Nature America, Inc.

        All Rights Reserved.

        Scroll To Top

        Support science journalism.

        Scientific American paper issue and on tablet

        Thanks for reading Scientific American. Knowledge awaits.

        Already a subscriber? Sign in.

        Thanks for reading Scientific American. Create your free account or Sign in to continue.

        Create Account

        See Subscription Options

        Continue reading with a Scientific American subscription.

        You may cancel at any time.

        Sign in.