Turtle Shell

The turtle shell is a highly complicated shield for the ventral and dorsal parts of turtles, tortoises and terrapins (all classified as "turtles" by zoologists), completely enclosing all the vital organs of the turtle and in some cases even the head. It is constructed of modified bony elements such as the ribs, parts of the pelvis and other bones found in most reptiles. The bone of the shell consists of both skeletal and dermal bone, showing that the complete enclosure of the shell probably evolved by including dermal armor into the rib cage.

The shell of the turtle is an important study, not just because of the obvious protection it provides for the animal, but also as an identification tool, in particular with fossils as the shell is one of the likely parts of a turtle to survive fossilization. Hence understanding the structure of the shell in living species gives us comparable material with fossils.

The shell of the hawksbill turtle, among other species, has been used as a material for a wide range of small decorative and practical items since antiquity, but is normally referred to as tortoiseshell.

The turtle shell is made up of numerous bony elements, generally named after similar bones in other vertebrates, and a series of keratinous scutes which are also uniquely named. Some of those bones that make the top of the shell, carapace, evolved from the scapula rami of the clavicles along with the dorsal and superficial migration of the clecthra. The ventral surface is called the plastron. These are joined by an area called the bridge. The actual suture between the bridge and the plastron is called the anterior bridge strut. In Pleurodires the posterior pelvis is also part of the carapace, fully fused with it. This is not the case in Cryptodires which have a floating pelvis. The anterior bridge strut and posterior bridge strut are part of the plastron, on the carapace are the sutures into which they insert, known as the Bridge carapace suture.

The bones of the shell are named for standard vertebrate elements. As such the carapace is made up of 8 pleurals on each side, these are a combination of the ribs and fused dermal bone. Outside of this at the anterior of the shell is the single nuchal bone, a series of 11 paired periphals then extend along each side. At the posterior of the shell is the pygal bone and in front of this nested behind the eighth pleurals is the suprapygal.

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