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morphology of a turtleclick to hear

morphology of a turtle plastron carapace leg claw scale horny beak eye eyelid neck costal shield vertebral shield marginal shield tail pygal shield

plastron click to hear

Relatively flat bony casing protecting the belly and cut away on the sides to allow the legs to move.

carapace click to hear

Bony casing in the shape of a rounded hump; it protects the back and connects to the plastron.

leg click to hear

Short thick articulated limb bearing claws and used for walking or swimming, depending on the species.

claw click to hear

Slightly curved, rigid pointy structure; the forelegs have five while the hind legs have four.

scale click to hear

Each of the small hard thin overlapping plates covering the body of the turtle.

horny beak click to hear

Thick cutaneous formation covering toothless jaws; its sharp edges allow the turtle to feed.

eye click to hear

Organ of sight located on the head and having poor vision; it can make out motion and colors.

eyelid click to hear

Each of the three movable muscular membranes protecting the anterior surface of the eye.

neck click to hear

Long flexible portion of the body covered in small scales; the turtle folds it back to retract its head into the carapace.

costal shield click to hear

Large corneous scales set in a row on each side of the back shell.

vertebral shield click to hear

Large corneous scales set in a row on the middle portion of the back shell.

marginal shield click to hear

Small corneous scales set in a row around the back shell.

tail click to hear

Small terminal appendage of the body that retracts into the carapace.

pygal shield click to hear

Very small corneous scale located on the posterior portion of the back shell, above the tail.