Anatomy of the Sea Turtle

Sea turtles the reptiles living in the sea for more than millions of years are soft, beautiful and sure are unique in everything. When you see a sea turtle you will notice that it sure is looking different, and its activities also are quite different from any other animals living in the land or sea. This is because that is the way these sea creatures are being created. The anatomy of the sea turtles are is different from any other animals in the world. Sea turtles can survive both on land and sea. In the land they walk very slowly but once they jump in to the water they get so much energy to swim fast across the waves and tides.

Sea turtle has an amazing anatomy of skeleton inside and outside its body. They are very rare species living during our periods of time. The exoskeleton which forms as the outer covering for the sea turtles is formed for protecting the animal within it. These skeleton shells also help to protect the organs inside the sea turtle’s body.

The body of the sea turtles is made up of one upper half which is hard and shell like part and the other internal half which is soft. The shell part of the sea turtles is actually made of bones. These shells are scientifically known as plastron. And this plastron is also divided in to two equal halves. The upper half of the exoskeleton is known as the carapace and the lower half is known as plastron. Do you know that the outer shell part which is so attractive is actually the ribs which are fused together which are covered by structures which are pliant? These structures are known as scutes. There are different kinds of scutes which differs according to the way they are fixed on the carapace. In the nuchal scutes it is in the front part of the carapace, the vertebral scutes is fixed in the middle vertebral column, next to the vertebral scutes are the costal scutes, and at last the marginal scutes in the outer end of the carapace. In Each species the sea turtle the arrangements of the scutes differ and so we can easily identify them.

The endoskeletons are the base for the shape of sea turtles body. The flesh of the endoskeletons is attached and fused to the exoskeleton. The spinal cord is also fused and attached to the carapace. The flippers you see is actually the limbs modified and fused in to form the flippers. The flippers are usually long and large in all species of sea turtles. The flippers in the front is helps them to swim in the water easily. The same flippers are also used for moving down in to the land. The female turtles are the ones which move much in the land when they are ready to lay eggs in the sandy beaches. The flippers are also very sensitive part of the turtle’s body. The flippers which are at the back of the turtles are for supporting them in the sea and land. They are used for exploring the different directions in land and sea.

The mouth part of the sea turtles is quite different, because they do not have teeth but their mouth itself has jaws which are pointed, powerful and sharp, with the help of which the sea turtles are able to select, break and eat their food easily. The eyes of the sea turtles are designed to see within the splashing water and outside the water too. But in the land their vision is a little poor. The glands which are present in the eyes spits out the salty water which are drained into the eyes of the turtles while swimming in the sea water. This secretion of water helps the sea turtles to moisture the eyes when they enter the land. This is the reason female turtles cry during the period of laying the eggs in the beach land.

The ears of the sea turtles is just a bone like projection which are very sensitive and are helps the turtles to hear even the small decibels of vibration when they are inside the water and in the land. Their nose can smell tremendously at anything from afar. Using this sense the sea turtles can smell the beach and spot the spot easily where they had laid their eggs. The only major difference between male and female turtles is their tails. The tails of the male turtles are longer but the tail of the female turtles is just a projection known as ovipositor which helps the female turtle to deposit its eggs. Beautiful are these sea creatures and amazing are its anatomy!