Happy World Turtle Day!

Happy World Turtle Day!

Let’s Shellabrate!

It’s World Turtle Day and we’re having a Shellabration with fun facts and photos! Tell us what you love about turtles and tortoises!

• Turtles have been on the earth for about 200 million years.
• Box turtles can live to be over a 100 years old.
• Turtles live on every continent except Antarctica.
• There are around 300 species of turtle and tortoises in the world. 

• There are seven species of sea turtles. The Leatherback is the largest.
• The top shell is called the carapace and the bottom shell is the called the plastron.

• Turtles and tortoises are attached to their shells.
• The shells are part of their skeleton.
  

• Scutes are made up of keratin, the same protein that makes up human hair and nails.
• Turtles don’t have ears.
• There are about 250 species of turtles.
• Some sea turtles can dive as deep as 3,000 feet.
• Turtles are reptiles.
• Turtles lay eggs.

• Hatchlings have a special tooth that they use to crack open their eggs.

We think turtles are just the coolest! It’s fun to find them when you are walking around ponds, lakes and rivers! One day we’ll travel to Professor Baxter Bird’s home islands- the Galapagos to meet their esteemed tortoise residents!