Published: April 29, 2008 01:08 pm            

Wild Facts: living a shell-tered life

Submitted by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources



Turtles may crawl out of their shells in cartoons, but not in real life. A turtle’s backbone is built into the top of its shell, which is called the carapace.

When threatened, a turtle often pulls in its head, tail and legs for protection. In some species, the bottom part of the shell (called the plastron) is hinged, forming such a tight closure that not even a knife can pry the two halves open. This adaptation helps many turtles live 50 years or more in the wild. In captivity, they can live even longer, with some reaching more than 100 years old!



Wild Facts is a regular feature written by Linda May, a wildlife interpretive specialist with the Georgia DNR Wildlife Resources Division.



In the next Georgia Wild, learn about work documenting the natural diversity in sandhills habitat, why the new Silver Lake Wildlife Management Area near Bainbridge is special and which teams came out on top in the 2008 Youth Birding Competition at Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center.

The May-June issue of Georgia Wild, a free e-newsletter about all things nongame, is due out in early May. Subscribe at www.georgiawildlife.com (click “Conservation” and the e-newsletter link).

        

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