Turtles

Whit Gibbons is a professor emeritus of ecology at the University of Georgia. He writes the weekly environmental column Ecoviews and is the author or editor of eleven books, including Snakes of the Southeast. Judy Greene is the herpetology research coordinator at the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory and has coauthored, with Dr. Gibbons, a number of scholarly articles on herpetology and ecology.

A good general introduction to turtle biology and ecology. -- Ian Paulsen Birdbooker Report 2009 The wide ranging questions are answered in a very readable style, with specific scientific explanations where necessary. -- Christine Tilley British Chelonia Group Newsletter 2010 Gibbons and Greene have done a masterful job of assembling questions of great interest to many readers and providing detailed, interesting, and informative answers... Highly recommended. Choice 2010

• AcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. Introducting TurtlesWhat are turtles?What is the difference between turtles, terrapins, and tortoises?How many kinds of turtles are there?Why are turtles important?Why should people care about turtles?Where do turtles live?What is the current classification of turtles?What characterizes the major groups of turtles?When did turtles first evolve?What is the oldest fossil turtle?What is the largest fossil turtle?2. Form and FunctionWhat are the largest and smallest living turtles?What is the metabolism of a turtle?Do turtles have teeth?Do turtles sleep?Can turtles see color?Do all turtles have hard shells?Can a turtle emerge from its shell?Can turtles run?Can all turtles swim?Do all aquatic turtles have flippers?Can turtles breathe under water?Can you tell whether a fossil turtle lived in the sea, in freshwater, or on land?3. Turtle ColorsWhy do so many turtles have yellow stripes on their neck?What causes the different shell and skin colors of turtles?What color are a turtle's eyes?Is there a reason for the patterns on the shell?Do a turtle's colors change as it grows?Do a turtle's colors change in different seasons?Is there much geographic variation within a single turtlespecies?4. Turtle BehaviorAre turtles social?Do turtles fight?Are snapping turtles the only ones that bite?How smart are turtles?Do turtles play?Do turtles talk?How do turtles avoid predators?5. Turtle EcologyWhere do turtles sleep?Do turtles migrate?How many turtle species live in rivers?How many turtle species live in lakes?How many turtle species live in the ocean?Which geographic regions have the most species of turtles?How do turtles survive in the desert?How do turtles survive the winter?How do turtles survive droughts?What is hibernation?Do all turtles bask?Do turtles have enemies?Do turtles get sick?How can you tell if a turtle is sick?Are turtles good for the environment?6. Reproduction and DevelopmentHow do turtles reproduce?Do all turtles lay eggs?Why do sea turtles lay so many eggs but box turtles lay only afew?How long do female turtles hold eggs in their body?Where do turtles lay their eggs?Does a turtle nest at the same time and in the same place every year?Do turtles nest only one time per year?How many eggs do turtles lay?Are all hatchlings in a turtle nest full siblings?How is the sex of a turtle determined?Do turtles care for their young?How fast do turtles grow?How can you tell the age of a turtle?How long do turtles live?7. Foods and FeedingWhat do turtles eat?Do turtles chew their food?How do turtles find food?Are any turtles scavengers?How do turtles eat hard-shelled animals?Do turtles store their food?8. Turtles and HumansDo turtles make good pets?How do you take care of a pet turtle?Are turtles dangerous?Do turtles feel pain?What should I do if I find an injured turtle?What should I do if I find a turtle crossing the road?What should I do if I find a turtle laying eggs?What should I do if I find a baby turtle?How can I see turtles in the wild?Should people feed turtles in lakes?9. Turtle Problems (from a human viewpoint)Are turtles pests?Do turtles reduce the number of fish in lakes and rivers?Do turtles kill ducks in ponds?Do turtles have diseases and are they contagious?Is it safe to eat turtles?What should I do if I get bitten by a turtle?10. Human Problems (from a turtle's viewpoint)Are any turtles endangered?Will turtles be affected by global warming?Are turtles affected by pollution?Why do people hunt and eat turtles?Are "tortoiseshell" items actually made from turtle shells?Why do so many turtles get hit by cars?Are boats dangerous for aquatic turtles?How are turtles affected by litter?What can an ordinary citizen do to help turtles?11. Turtles in Stories and LiteratureWhat roles do turtles play in religion and mythology?Are turtles depicted at all in the Christian religion?Did any early philosophers/naturalists mention turtles in their writings?What are the roles turtles have played in children's literature?What roles do turtles play in popular culture?What about turtles and math?What roles have turtles played in poetry and famoussayings?12. "Turtleology"Who studies turtles?Which species are best known?Which species are least known?How do scientists tell turtles apart?Appendix A: Scientific and Common Names of Living TurtlesAppendix B: Organizations and Societies for Turtle ConservationBibliographyIndex