• Featuring in-depth contributions from an international team of experts, the Biology of Turtles provides the first comprehensive review of the Testudinata. The book starts with the premise that the structure of turtles is particularly interesting and best understood within the context of their development, novelty, functional diversity, and evolution. It provides a robust discussion of the development and diversity of the shell. The book also explores the turtle body plan, its physiological and ecological consequences, evolutionary novelties, and their importance. The 200 illustrations found throughout the text enhance the chapters combine with color illustrations of the development of the shell, aspects of bone structural diversity, growth, and skeletochronology, to make this book an unparalleled resource. The volume concludes with a thoughtful discussion of the more than century long debate on the origins of turtles and the reasons why our understanding of the phylogenic origins and evolution of turtles remains tentative.

    Currently available books on this subject are woefully out of date and no overall review of Testudinata has been undertaken…until now. Each chapter represents a milestone in synthesizing a wide range of available information on specific subjects. The book’s challenge: look both inside and outside the shell to build a clearer understanding of the diversity and evolution of turtles.

  • How the Turtle Gets Its Shell, S.F. Gilbert, J.A. Cebra-Thomas, and A.C. Burke
    Comparative Ontogenetic and Phylogenetic Aspects of Chelonian Chondro-Osseous Growth and Skeletochronology, M.L. Snover and A.G.J. Rhodin
    Evolution and Structure of the Turtle Shell, P.C H. Pritchard
    Long Bone Allometry in Tortoises and Turtles, G.A. Llorente, X. Ruiz, A. Casinos, I. Barandalla, and C. Viladiu
    Evolution of Locomotion in Aquatic Turtles, S. Renous, F. de Lapparent de Broin, M. Depecker, J. Davenport, and V. Bels
    Hindlimb Function in Turtle Locomotion: Limb Movements and Muscular Activation Across Taxa, Environment, and Ontogeny, R.W. Blob, A.R.V. Rivera, and M.W. Westneat
    Cervical Anatomy and Function in Turtles, A. Herrel, J. Van Damme, and P. Aerts
    Functional Evolution of Feeding Behavior in Turtles, V. Bels, S. Baussart, J. Davenport, M. Shorten, R.M. O’Riordan, S. Renous, and J.L. Davenport
    The Cardiopulmonary Systems of Turtles: Implications to Behavior and Function, J. Wyneken
    Reproductive Structures and Strategies of Turtles, J.D. Miller and S.A. Dinkelacker
    Mixed and Uniform Brood Sex Ratio Strategy in Turtles: The Facts, the Theory, and their Consequences, V. Hulin, M. Girondot, M.H. Godfrey, and J.-M. Guillon
    The Physiology and Anatomy of Anoxia Tolerance in the Freshwater Turtle Brain, S.L. Milton
    The Relationships of Turtles within Amniotes, O. Rieppel
    Index

  • Jeanette Wyneken

    Associate Professor of Biology, Florida Atlantic University
    Boca Raton, FL, USA

Veterinary Clinics of North America
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