The origin of turtles and their uniquely shelled body plan is one of the longest standing
problems in vertebrate biology. The unfulfilled need for a hypothesis that both explains the …

The reptile skin is a barrier against water loss and pathogens and an armor for mechanical
damages. The integument of reptiles consists of two main layers: the epidermis and the …

The turtle shell is often described as an evolutionary novelty that facilitated the radiation of
the clade Testudines. The scutes, or keratinous plates, of the turtle shell are hypothesized to …

The evolution of reptiles, birds, and mammals was associated with the origin of unique
integumentary structures. Studies on lizards, chicken, and humans have suggested that the …

Eleven specimens of the threatened Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Caretta caretta (L., 1758)) were
caught accidentally by fishermen in different parts of Sicily (Mediterranean Sea). Five of …

Exceptional variability in the shell of the pancake tortoise Malacochersus tornieri, both in the
keratinous surficial scutes and the underlying bones, in addition to its remarkably …

The turtle carapace has a high level of protection, due to its unique biological structure, and
there is great potential to use the turtle carapace structure to improve the impact resistance …

Interest in the origin and evolution of the turtle shell has resulted in a most unlikely clade
becoming an important research group for investigating morphological diversity in …

Turtle shells comprising of cortical and trabecular bones exhibit intriguing mechanical
properties. In this work, compression tests were performed using specimens made from the …

Developing organisms are often exposed to fluctuating environments that destabilize tissue‐
scale processes and induce abnormal phenotypes. This might be common in species that …