@noricenolife @futurebird The clade of Testudines (what we usually call "turtles" today, encompassing tortoises, sea turtles and freshwater turtles) is monophyletic - in fact, they branched off the reptilian family tree *before even lizards*.
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@noricenolife @futurebird The clade of Testudines (what we usually call "turtles" today, encompassing tortoises, sea turtles and freshwater turtles) is monophyletic - in fact, they branched off the reptilian family tree *before even lizards*. The basic turtle body plan is just such a great adaptation that it keeps getting reinvented, by animals only very distantly related to them! (I personally think glyptodonts look a bit more armadillo-like than turtle-like ... but you could make the point that an armadillo is *very* turtle-like for a mammal!).
Another "design" that keeps coming up is the sabre-toothed cat. There have been at least three distinct species that developed independently from each other ... but they also keep going extinct again.
Fun fact: Before the first crocodilians, there were amphibians that occupied the same niche: Ambush predators who lurk in bodies of freshwater other animals need to drink. And they looked *very* crocodile-like, too - here's an artist's impression of a prionosuchus.
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@noricenolife @futurebird The clade of Testudines (what we usually call "turtles" today, encompassing tortoises, sea turtles and freshwater turtles) is monophyletic - in fact, they branched off the reptilian family tree *before even lizards*. The basic turtle body plan is just such a great adaptation that it keeps getting reinvented, by animals only very distantly related to them! (I personally think glyptodonts look a bit more armadillo-like than turtle-like ... but you could make the point that an armadillo is *very* turtle-like for a mammal!).
Another "design" that keeps coming up is the sabre-toothed cat. There have been at least three distinct species that developed independently from each other ... but they also keep going extinct again.
Fun fact: Before the first crocodilians, there were amphibians that occupied the same niche: Ambush predators who lurk in bodies of freshwater other animals need to drink. And they looked *very* crocodile-like, too - here's an artist's impression of a prionosuchus.
Kind of speaks to exoskeleton envy IMO
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Kind of speaks to exoskeleton envy IMO
@futurebird @noricenolife I mean, a turtle is kind of a weird halfway between what you'd usually consider an exo- and endoskeleton. The shell is part of the skeleton and the muscles are inside it, which makes it basically an exoskeletal part on an animal that otherwise has an endoskeleton.
(BTW, there's a weird misconceptions that turtles can't feel their shells, but they definitely can - they're not *as* sensitive as the skin, but they're full of live nerve endings and very clearly register touch. And if you'll excuse me, I need to go pat one of the two tortoises I'm currently being tortoisesitter for!
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F myrmepropagandist shared this topic
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@futurebird @noricenolife I mean, a turtle is kind of a weird halfway between what you'd usually consider an exo- and endoskeleton. The shell is part of the skeleton and the muscles are inside it, which makes it basically an exoskeletal part on an animal that otherwise has an endoskeleton.
(BTW, there's a weird misconceptions that turtles can't feel their shells, but they definitely can - they're not *as* sensitive as the skin, but they're full of live nerve endings and very clearly register touch. And if you'll excuse me, I need to go pat one of the two tortoises I'm currently being tortoisesitter for!
)Turtle pics or it didn't happen!
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Turtle pics or it didn't happen!
@leguinian_utopia They've just gone to sleep. Apparently, they like sleeping in train formation.
(They're leopard tortoises; 5 and 7 years old. Sex unknown; they're still too young to tell for sure. I'm looking after them for two weeks while their owner is off on vacation.
The "vacation home" box is just below my pet lizard's terrarium, and he watches them with great interest. I'm going to lift one of them up so he can see one up close through the glass, and if both animals seem to feel comfortable about the situation I might arrange a supervised meeting.)
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@leguinian_utopia They've just gone to sleep. Apparently, they like sleeping in train formation.
(They're leopard tortoises; 5 and 7 years old. Sex unknown; they're still too young to tell for sure. I'm looking after them for two weeks while their owner is off on vacation.
The "vacation home" box is just below my pet lizard's terrarium, and he watches them with great interest. I'm going to lift one of them up so he can see one up close through the glass, and if both animals seem to feel comfortable about the situation I might arrange a supervised meeting.)
@datarama @leguinian_utopia beautiful, wonderful animals.
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@datarama @leguinian_utopia beautiful, wonderful animals.
@llewelly @leguinian_utopia And here's the aforementioned lizard (a pic a week or so old; he's sleeping now and I don't want to disturb him for a photoshoot.)
