What is the shell of a turtle made out of?

Question

Turtles have hard shells from a very early age. Being reptiles, turtles also live for a long long time. Over the course of their life their shell seems to grow with them to accomodate their growing body. So what is the shell made of? is it bone? some type of hair? How can it be so hard yet expand with their body?

Answer 1

Keratin....like hair and fingernails.The way it grows is there are separate plates on the shells. The bumps and ridges separate and expand as they get larger.

Answer 2

The shell is a sandwich of materials. The main structure is bony plates that are composed of the animal's rib cage and breast bone. It grows just like a human skull does- where the bones come together there is a 'suture zone' that allows each bone to grow and yet remain interconnected.

Over this is a layer of living tissue that generates the top layer.

The top layer is made of about the same substance as fingernails- a form of hair 'glued' together with keratin. This layer is basically dead, but new layers are being formed under the dead outer layers which are shed when they become too small.

Keeping each of these layers growing in a coordinated way is vital to the turtle's health.Glitches in diet can result in some parts growing faster or slower than others.

Answer 3

Shell
The upper shell of the turtle is called the carapace. The lower shell that incases the belly is called the plastron. The carapace and plastron are joined together on the turtle's sides by bony structures called bridges. The inner layer of a turtle's shell is made up of about 60 bones that includes portions of the backbone and the ribs, meaning the turtle cannot crawl out of its shell. In most turtles, the outer layer of the shell is covered by horny scales called scutes that are part of its outer skin, or epidermis. Scutes are made up of a fibrous protein called keratin that also makes up the scales of other reptiles. These scutes overlap the seams between the shell bones and add strength to the shell. Some turtles do not have horny scutes. For example, the leatherback sea turtle and the soft-shelled turtles have shells covered with leathery skin instead.

The shape of the shell gives helpful clues to how the turtle lives. Most tortoises have a large dome-shaped shell that makes it difficult for predators to crush the shell between their jaws. One of the few exceptions is the African pancake tortoise which has a flat, flexible shell that allows it to hide in rock crevices. Most aquatic turtles have flat, streamlined shells which aid in swimming and diving. American snapping turtles and musk turtles have small, cross-shaped plastrons that give them more efficient leg movement for walking along the bottom of ponds and streams.

Tortoises have rather heavy shells in contrast to aquatic and soft-shelled turtles which have lighter shells that help them avoid sinking in water and swim faster and more agilely. These lighter shells have large spaces called fontanelles between the shell bones. The shell of a leatherback turtle is extremely light because they lack scutes and contain many fontanelles.

The color of a turtle's shell may vary. Shells are commonly coloured brown, black, or olive green. In some species, shells may have red, orange, yellow, or grey markings and these markings are often spots, lines, or irregular blotches. One of the most colorful turtles is the eastern painted turtle which includes a yellow plastron and a black or olive shell with red markings around the rim.

Answer 4

WOW. Zoology has relatively long previous downhill. i'm stunned no person is speaking approximately how each and every Christmas season thousands and thousands of turtle households are harvested for our intake. once you open a field of Turtles, it relatively is surely a turtle relatives you're eating. ill top?! Now they have bins of in my view wrapped ones b/c the turtle relatives inhabitants is incredibly declining :( So now they only grab in spite of the fact that they'd discover and field it up :( i've got already signed assorted petitions attempting to outlaw the sale of Turtles. additionally, i've got signed many petitions to end Canadians from seal clubbing on the North Saskatchewan river. people are so barbaric.

Answer 5

In most turtles, the shell is made up of large bones, covered on the outside by large scales, known as "scutes". The number, shape and distribution of these scutes are used to differentiate species.

This bone grows just like your bones do as you grow.

Answer 6

Keratin- the same material finger nails and hair are made up of.

Answer 7

i dont really know. mabey bone. search goole, or yahoo. or look it up in a book.