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More About Turtles ...
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Turtles, a generic name for the group of reptiles which includes tortoises and terrapins, are reptiles most of whose body is shielded by a special bony shell developed from their ribs. All extant, or living, turtles are members of the order Testudines, which includes both living and extinct varieties of turtle.
There are two major groups of turtles: sea turtles, which grow to large sizes and live in the oceans in the temperate and tropical regions of the earth, and fresh-water turtles.
Fresh-water turtles which spend the majority of their time on the land are generally called tortoises. In the United Kingdom aquatic fresh-water turtles are known as terrapins. Fresh-water turtles are generally much smaller, ranging in size from a few centimeters to a few feet long. All turtles have a protective shell around their bodies. The top part of their case is called the carapace, the underside is the plastron, and the two are connected by the bridge.
The size of turtles can vary from a few centimetres to up to two meters. Turtles generally live a long time; some individuals are known to have lived longer than 150 years.
The first turtles already existed in the era of the dinosaurs, some 200 million years ago. Turtles are the only surviving branch of the even more ancient clade Anapsida, which includes groups such as the procolophonoids, millerettids and pareiasaurs. All anapsid skulls lack a temporal opening. All other extant amniotes have temporal openings (although in mammals the hole is obscured). Most of the anapsids became extinct in the late Permian period, with the exception of the procolophonoids and the precursors of the testudines (turtles).
Even though they spend large amounts of their lives underwater, turtles are air-breathing reptiles, and must surface at regular intervals to refill their lungs with fresh air. They also spend part of their lives on dry land. Sea turtles lay their eggs on dry sandy beaches, and are highly endangered largely as a result of beach development and over hunting.
Aquatic respiration in Australian freshwater turtles is currently being studied. Some species have large cloacal cavities that are lined with many finger-like projections. These projections, called "papillae", have a rich blood supply, and serve to increase the surface area of the cloaca. The turtles can take up dissolved oxygen from the water using these papillae, in much the same way that fish use gills to respire.
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Taxonmony
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Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Testudines
Family:
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Source: Wikipedia Read more about Turtles
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STOCK FOOTAGE DIRECTORY
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Slider Turtle
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Turtle
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Sea Turtle
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Softshell Turtle
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Turtle
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Leatherback Turtle
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Sea Turtle
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Green Sea Turtle
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Hawksbill Turtle
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Sea Turtle
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Sea Turtle
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Snapping Turtle
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Turtle
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Softshell Turtle
TV Data
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Green Turtle
Howard Hall Productions
Green Turtle Visit Site
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Green Turtle
Howard Hall Productions
Green Turtle being rubbed by rainbow runners Visit Site
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Hawksbill Turtle
Howard Hall Productions
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Hawksbill Turtle
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Hawksbill Turtles feeding on sponges Visit Site
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Hawksbill Turtle
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Hawksbill Turtles feeding on algae Visit Site
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Hawksbill Turtle
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Loggerhead Turtle
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The Hawksbill Turtle
Global Cuts
you'll instantly feel younger when you go face-to-face with this ancient species. This air-breathing marine has been swimming the oceans for millions of years. With that much practice, it's no wonder that the hawksbill turtle can stay underwater for a full hour after taking just a few sips of air. Follow this endangered creature on a fascinating three-minute Red Sea swim.
The footage on The Hawksbill Turtle is shot with a 3CCD camcorder in a Light and Motion UW Housing. It is supplied in flattened QuickTime format, DV-PAL format dimensions, 720 x 576 pixels, at a frame rate of 25 fps. Visit Site
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Green Turtle
Global Cuts
From mid-October to late April female Green Turtles can be seen coming out of the sea and struggling up beaches on some coral cays and reef islands to lay their eggs. Normally it is on a moonlit night the large female turtle lumbers ashore and digs a shallow pit above the high water mark. When the hole is deep enough up to 100 eggs are laid. She then covers them up and heads back to the sea. The eggs hatch 6-13 weeks later.
The Green Turtle footage is shot with a Sony DSR-200AP DVCAM camcorder. It is supplied in flattened QuickTime format. It is shot and captured in PAL format dimensions, 720 x 576 pixels, at a frame rate of 25 fps. Visit Site
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