Bournery identified it as the plastron of a female turtle.
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After a chimp discovered and captured a tortoise, it repeatedly smashed its plastron, or shell, against a tree trunk.
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Painted turtles, the species that I studied, exhibit sexual dimorphism: Basically, adult males look different than adult females because they have a concave plastron (lower shell) and longer tail.
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Viewers learned about the plastron (the lower shell) and the scutes (a bony outer plate), and also that the bad boy on camera can take off a finger if you're not careful.
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In desert shades of gold and sandstone, on a base of long white chiffon gowns, it featured oversize glinting bouclé jackets and miniskirts shaped to reference the wrapped skirts of Egyptian men visible in temple paintings and pottery, with corresponding exaggerated plastron collars on pretty much everything.
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The plastron is reddish brown to black, sometimes with blotches of yellow. In juveniles, the plastron is a uniform yellow. The bridge (the hinge connecting plastron and carapace) is the same color as the plastron. It is significantly smaller than the carapace and narrow at the front and back.
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Like the carapace, the plastron is made up of many bony elements. The plastron is divided into five parts. At the anterior end of the plastron, the first part is the epiplastron. Following the epiplastron is the entoplastron.
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Growth rings are clearly evident in most individuals, but become worn smooth with age. Plastron view of an adult male red-footed tortoise The plastron (bottom shell) is large and thick along the edges. The gulars (frontmost pair of plastron scutes) do not protrude much past the front of the carapace. The plastron of a male is deeply indented, and the anal scutes (rearmost pair of plastron scutes) may be used to sex the animal while the color pattern varies by region.
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The next two divisions after the entoplastron are the hyoplastron and the hypoplastron. From the reconstructed images of the plastron of Basilemys morrinensis, the hyoplastron and hypoplastron appear to be the biggest sections of the plastron itself. The posterior end of the plastron, the last division is the xiphiplastron. The scales that make up the plastron include the humeral scale, the axillary scale, the pectoral scale, the abdominal scale, the femoral scale, and the anal scale.
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The carapace is almost entirely black or dark brown with black radiating patterns. The plastron (the ventral shell) is not hinged and has a shallow U-shaped notch in the pair of anal scutes. The bridge (the parts connecting the abdominal and pectoral scutes of the plastron to the carapace) is approximately the same length as the rear part of the plastron (consisting of the femoral and anal scutes). Both the bridge and the plastron can be entirely black, dark brown, or yellowish with splotches or patterns of darker colors.
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A gular projection is evident on the anterior plastron where the head projects from the shell. Sexual dimorphism is evident, with the male gopher tortoise having a concave plastron, while that of the female is flat. In addition, the gular projection of a male plastron is generally longer than that of a female. Straight carapace length of adults usually ranges from , with a maximum of .
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The skin beneath the head and between the limbs is a lighter pinkish color. The name box turtle refers to C. flavomarginata's ability to bring the plastron to the edges of the carapace. This is enabled by a hinge on the plastron and ligaments connecting the carapace and plastron, which allows for limited movement. The forefeet have five claws, while the rear have four.
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The carapace is yellowish brown to dark brown or even black at the edges of the scutes. The areola in each scute are pale yellow, orange or light brown and blend into the darker carapace. The plastron (shell bottom) is thick around the edges, and the gulars (front pair of plastron scutes) do not project past the carapace. The plastron is yellow-brown turning nearly black near the seams.
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The skeletal elements of the plastron are also largely in pairs. Anteriorly there are two epiplastra, with the hyoplastra behind them. These enclose the singuar entoplastron. These make up the front half of the plastron and the hyoplastron contains the anterior bridge strut.
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Plastron of a painted wood turtle Painted wood turtles can grow to a maximum length of 20 cm. It has a dome-shaped carapace and the plastron has a continuous ventral line. It has red stripes on its body and it has webbed feet.
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P. sinaiticus is known from several armor fragments and larger pieces of the carapace and plastron. The osteoderms of the carapace and plastron are smaller than those of other species. As in P. mosis, two ridges separate run along the side of the shell. P. cf.
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Some TCM scientists argue that there is no difference between plastron and carapace (back shell) bone. So, if both plastron and carapace bone are utilized, the demand of TCM for freshwater turtles, including four-eyed turtles, could decrease by 50%.Or even more, since the carapace is larger than the plastron. Current TCM research also suggests that there is no pharmaceutical difference in the effects of bone from animals produced on farms and animals captured in nature.
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The plastron of the turtle has dark spots, as well as the ridge of the carapace. Also, the plastron has bars or stripes of yellow. The turtle's legs in front have larger yellow stripes than most slider species. There is a yellow and orange stripe directly behind each eye.
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Fritz, 1995c. This subspecies has narrow or fine reticulations on its carapace (which may be lost with age), and a totally black plastron and bridge. Age-related flavism may occur, resulting in a mainly yellow plastron with black reduced to the seams. This subspecies can be separated from melanistic M. c.
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Two distinct ridges along either side of the shell separate the carapace, a lateral wall of smaller osteoderms, and the plastron. P. ramonensis is known from a partial carapace and connected plastron. The osteoderms of the carapace have smoother edges than most other species of Psephosauriscus, and lack the keel of species like P. mosis. The carapace curves into the lateral wall of the body without a separating ridge as in P. mosis, but a lower ridge does separate the lateral wall from the plastron.
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The plastron is always a light yellow with dark, paired, irregular markings in the centre of most scutes. The plastron is highly variable in pattern. The head, legs, and tail are green with fine, irregular, yellow lines. The whole shell is covered in these stripes and markings that aid in camouflaging an individual.
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The plastron, or lower shell, is yellow with dark blotches symmetrically arranged. The head and legs are dark, and usually speckled or mottled with yellow. Blanding's turtle is also called the "semi-box" turtle, for although the plastron is hinged, the plastral lobes do not shut as tight as the box turtle's.
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The most important and useful features for identifying eggs are the size, length, and width of the plastron, as well as the morphology of the plastron in the area around the micropyle. The various measurements and observations when compared to standards for forensically important species are used to determine the species of the egg.
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They breathe by means of tracheal gills. Spider water beetle adults, like all members of the subfamily Elminae, can also remain indefinitely underwater by means of a plastron, a thin film of gas trapped by hydrophobic bristles (setae) on their body. As the insect breathes, the oxygen concentration in the gas film drops in comparison to the surrounding water, causing new oxygen to diffuse again into the plastron. Because of their reliance on the plastron for breathing, spider water beetles are restricted to the highly oxygenated environments in moderate to fast- moving permanent running water.
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The type species of Psephosauriscus, P. mosis, is known from a single specimen including portions of the carapace and plastron. The scutes that cover the armor plates do not have as well-defined a shape as the hexagonal osteoderms that lay underneath them. The osteoderms that form the plastron are relatively large. Some osteoderms have a raised keel.
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Underside of B. gaffneyi shell Turtle shells are a key identifying feature of turtles. The shells are made up of two portions: the carapace and the plastron. The carapace is the hard upper shell of a turtle while the plastron is the ventral surface of the shell. Turtle shells are phylogenetically important because it protects the animal.
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These light lines fade with age, but the pleural seam borders become darker. The well-developed plastron is notched posteriorly. The plastral formulae are given in the subspecies descriptions under Geographic Variation. The plastron is either yellow with variable reddish to dark-brown blotches, or dark brown or black with a yellow blotch along the lateral scute borders.
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The maximum reported weight is and the maximum (presumed total) length is . The head and carapace (upper shell) range from a yellow-orange to a reddish brown, while the plastron (underside) is typically pale yellow. The turtle's neck and sides are brown on the tops and yellow on the sides and bottom. The turtle's shell is divided into two sections: carapace and plastron.
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The carapace connects to the plastron by three pairs of inframarginal scutes forming the bridge of the shell. The plastron features paired gular, humeral, pectoral, abdominal, femoral, and anal scutes. The shell serves as external armor, although loggerhead sea turtles cannot retract their heads or flippers into their shells. Sexual dimorphism of the loggerhead sea turtle is only apparent in adults.
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Its upper shell is called the carapace. The lower shell that encases the belly is called the plastron. The carapace and plastron are joined on the turtle's sides by bony structures called bridges. The inner shell layer is made up of about 60 bones that include portions of the backbone and the ribs, meaning the turtle cannot crawl out of its shell.
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For example, the plastron is a feature involved in important evolutionary changes during the early spatangoid history and underlies a distinct pattern of disparity.
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Spots can always be found on the head, neck, and limbs. The bottom shell (plastron) is yellow or orange-yellow and a black spot is present on each section (scute); however, with age, melanism of the plastron increases until the entire surface is black. The head is black and the upper jaw is notched. On each side of the head is a large orange blotch.
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The Gulf snapping turtle is a large, brown to dark brown, short-necked turtle. Its carapace, or upper shell, reaches in straight carapace length; it has an undulating suture between the hemeral and pectoral shields in the white plastron, or under shell. The undulating (rather than straight) suture in the plastron distinguishes it from the northern snapping turtle (Elseya dentata).Woinarski, John (compiler) (May 2006).
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The male's tail is thicker and longer. Typically, the cloacal opening of the female is at or under the rear edge of the carapace, while the male's opening occurs beyond the edge of the carapace. The male's plastron is slightly concave, while that of the female is completely flat. The male's concave plastron also helps to stabilize the male on the female's carapace during mating.
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Scute and skeletal elements of the chelid plastron The plastron of chelids does not contain any hinges as can appear in some cryptodire turtles. The scute pattern is a unique feature of the Pleurodira and can be used to immediately identify a shell as belonging to this suborder. All cryptodires have 12 plastral scutes, whereas pleurodires have thirteen. The extra scute is called the intergular.
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What borders the carapace are the peripherals and marginal scales. At the posterior end of the shell, the pygal bone sits here and right above it is the suprapygal. The plastron of Basilemys is octagonal and elongated. The various parts that make up the plastron can be seen in the reconstructed version from the researchers that recovered the Basilemys morrinensis specimen from the Horseshoe Canyon Formation.
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The second and third vertebrals are broader than long in the young, nearly as long as broad in the adult, narrower than the costals. The plastron is large, angulate laterally, truncate anteriorly. The posterior lobe of the plastron is much narrower than the opening of the shell, nearly as long as the width of the bridge, deeply notched posteriorly. The head is rather large.
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These are considerably broader than long, as broad as the costal scutes.Henderson (1912), Praschag et al. (2006) The plastron is sizeable, being nearly as large as the shell opening; it is connected to the carapace by ligaments and particularly in females there is little ossification between the shields of the shell. The plastron is angled at the sides and openly emarginate at the forward and aft opening.
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S. minor is oviparous. Hatchlings have a straight carapace length of . They have three prominent keels on the carapace, and they have a pinkish unmarked plastron.
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Sea turtles have a carapace and plastron of bone and cartilage which is developed from their ribs. Infrequently a turtle "shell" will wash up on a beach.
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Broughton, vol. I, pp. 173, 174 (note 2).A plastron bearing an inscription dated 241 gives a different filiation for Atticus, described as the "son of Gaius".
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A plastron hinge develops to ease laying. It has been bred in captivity several times; in three cases the incubation time was 106, 110, and 145 days.
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There is limited sexual dimorphism with the tail of the female being marginally shorter than that of the male. The most accurate way to differentiate between sexes is to compare the distance between the anal scutes of the plastron and the cloacae. In males, the cloacae is located further away from the plastron than in females. Most other short-necked turtles in Australia show obvious differences in tail length and thickness.
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The connection points and the position of the emarginations relate to different bones of the skull. Another difference is in the arrangement of the bones of the shell and the scutes overlaying them. Pleurodiran turtles have 13 scutes on the plastron of the shell, whereas cryptodiran turtles have only 12. The extra scute is called the intergular and is at the front of the plastron between the gular scutes.
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The full adult weight is . The mata mata's plastron is reduced, narrowed, hingeless, shortened towards the front, and deeply notched at the rear with narrow bridges. These may be meant to allow the turtle to resemble a piece of bark, camouflaging it from possible predators.Encyclopedia of Animals: Mammals, Birds, Reptiles and Amphibians, Harold G. Cogger, Edwin Gould, Joseph Forshaw The plastron and bridges are cream to yellow or brown.
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This species is named for the yellow colored plastron unique among the Australian members of the genus. All other members having at least some degree of black coloration.
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Chinlechelys can be distinguished from both derived amniotes and primitive turtles based on the below features, noticed by Joyce et al.: the presence of a plastron, carapace and multi- element neck and tail armour; a dorsal centra hourglass-shaped, platycoelous, and with a distinct ventral keel; dorsal ribs in contact two dorsal vertebrae; the appearance of compressed dorsal ribs that are oriented vertically and only lightly associated with overlying dermal armour; a double contact between the dorsal vertebrae and dorsal ribs only incipient; the carapace and most of plastron laminar in thickness; a carapace with distinct medial ridge that widens towards the end; a plastron with a sloping inguinal notch; and neck armour prongs forming an angular cone.
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Other distinctions include a hook at the base of the foot for copulation in males and a specialized opening at the base of the plastron for oviposition (egg deposit).
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The Sri Kurmam Temple in Andhra Pradesh, India, is dedicated to the Kurma avatar. Kurmavatara is also Kasyapa, the northern star, the first living being, forefather of Vishnu the protector. The plastron symbolizes the earthly world and the carapace the heavenly world. The Shatapatha Brahmana identifies the world as the body of Kurmaraja, the "king of tortoises", with the earth its plastron, the atmosphere its body, and the vault of the heavens its carapace.
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The cloaca is further towards the end of the tail of the male bog turtle, while the female's cloaca is positioned inside the plastron. Juveniles are very difficult to sex.
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The rear of the carapace is flared and the rear marginals form serrations. The plastron is yellowish and is marked by a central dark blotch (plastral figure) that follows the sutures of the plastral scutes and fades with age so that many adults lack a pattern all together (i.e., the plastron is immaculate). The head, neck, limbs and tail are dark green with thin yellow stripes, and an oval or triangular spot is located behind each eye.
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The plastron (bottom shell) is yellow to reddish orange with a dark pattern between scutes that follows the scute seams (this fades with age). This distinguishes it from P. floridana, which lacks the dark marks. The stripe down the hind foot is also a major characteristic, and P. suwanniensis can be distinguished by its lack of color on the legs. Females tend to grow larger than males, and have a smaller tail and more convex plastron.
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Archived from the original. Retrieved 4 June 2018. The box turtle also has the ability to create a tight seal by closing the plastron upward to fit snugly against the carapace through a movable hinge between its pectoral and abdominal structures assuring the closure of the shell (Figure 1). Other characteristics include a continuous middorsal yellow line on its carapace and the plastron is solid brown with yellow spots and has mottling on its head and legs.
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Knowledge of reproductive behavior ranges from some of the most detailed, long-term study of any taxon (Chrysemys picta in Michigan) to a total lack of information. In many species, dimorphisms include elongated foreclaws or a concave plastron in the male. The longer claws are used in a courtship routine in which the male faces the female and fans her face. The concave plastron allows the male to mount females in species with more domed carapaces (e.g.
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At maturity, males, who reach a maximum straight carapace length of , are larger than females, who have been recorded to reach . Males also have larger claws, a larger head, a concave plastron, a more dome-like carapace, and longer tails than females. The plastron of females and juveniles is flat while in males it gains concavity with age. The posterior marginal scutes of females and juveniles (of either sex) radiate outward more than in mature males.
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C. flavomarginata has a highly domed shell, the carapace and plastron of which are a dark brown with a cream-yellow stripe on the vertebral keel. The edge of the plastron is lightly pigmented due to the marginal scutes' and plastral scutes' lighter pigmentation near their edges. The skin on the limbs is brown, while the top of the head is pale green. Each side of the head has a yellow line extending from behind the eye backward.
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The plastron (underside) is yellowish. The head is large with a projecting snout and a horny plate on the top. The neck can fold sideways. The feet are webbed and also clawed.
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Geological Magazine 149(4):675-695 It contains only the holotype, ZDM 3009, which consists of a complete shell with an articulated carapace and a complete plastron and possibly another, older specimen.
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Underneath, the turtle's plastron is hued yellow. C. mydas limbs are dark- colored and lined with yellow, and are usually marked with a large dark brown spot in the center of each appendage.
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E. trinacris is a small turtle. Maximum straight carapace length is . The carapace is dark, and the plastron is yellow. E. trinacris differs from E. orbicularis by its distinct mitochondrial DNA.. www.reptile-database.org.
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Its lifespan, as with most turtles, is quite long, with specimens in captivity being recorded at 50+ years of age. View of the plastron of Sternotherus odoratus (head at left, tail at right).
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Both rows of eyes bulge towards the rear. The plastron is mostly black and brown. The legs span very long, and they are black and yellow. There are no apparent hairs on all legs.
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Males can usually be distinguished from females by their longer tails. The plastron is small, with only one hinge which is located anteriorly. There is no gular scute. Barbels are present on the chin only.
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The plastron is smooth. The scutes are very thin and underlying sutures in both the carapace and plastron are visible through them in all but the darkest individuals. Pictured in the box is a carapace of a sub-adult Rheodytes leukops (242 mm length) showing the very visible sutures that can be seen through the scutes, still in place. The species, and in fact the genus, can also be identified by its very thin carapace bones, a character used in diagnosing the related fossil species Rheodytes devisi.
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The walking out dress comprised a Slouch hat and a serge tunic with blue plastron front, shoulder straps and waistbelt. After it became a lancer unit it adopted full dress uniform with a Chapka lance cap, the upper part covered in light blue cloth, and a tunic of maroon cloth (an unusual colour for the British Army) with light blue plastron, shoulder straps and cuffs. The unit adopted as its badge a running fox and the motto 'Forrard' in recognition of its foxhunting heritage.North, pp. 130–1.
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The size of the egg depends on the size of the mother and can be estimated by examining the width of the cloacal opening between the carapace and plastron. The plastron of a female tortoise often has a noticeable V-shaped notch below the tail which facilitates passing the eggs. Upon completion of the incubation period, a fully formed hatchling uses an egg tooth to break out of its shell. It digs to the surface of the nest and begins a life of survival on its own.
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Florida box turtle (Terrapene carolina bauri) Like other box turtles, the Florida box turtle has a narrow and highly domed shell with a hinged plastron that allows it to close its shell tightly. However, the Florida box turtle is different in appearance from the other subspecies of Terrapene carolina. Its carapace has a distinct pattern of yellow stripes that make it easily identifiable. The coloring of the plastron can vary anywhere from solid yellow to solid black, with any number of variations in between.
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Fully grown, they weigh . The wood turtle's karyotype consists of 50 chromosomes. The larger scutes display a pattern of black or yellow lines. The wood turtle's plastron (ventral shell) is yellowish in color and has dark patches.
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Its carapace is dark brown, ovoid, and lacks patterns in adults. The plastron is dark brown to black with or without dense, black, radiating lines. The head is greenish yellow. The throat and neck are uniformly dark.
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In later films, he is shown to be able to fly with only his rear legs drawn inside his shell, allowing his front limbs more freedom. Gamera's shell is presented as being incredibly resilient and strong, and can deflect missiles and other projectiles. His plastron (lower shell) is more vulnerable than his carapace (upper shell), however, and he has been wounded in his plastron to the point of bleeding. He possesses a pronounced crest on his head, his mouth contains rows of teeth, and two tusks protrude upward from each side of his lower jaw.
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In the males, the head and throat often display yellow, red, or orange spots. Frequently, the bottom shell or plastron is a straw yellow color, and has far fewer dark markings than the plastrons of the other subspecies.
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Their weight is generally . The average straight carapace length is , though adult females are larger than males. Adult males can also be distinguished from females by having slightly longer tails, and a concave belly (plastron).Baard EHW (1994).
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The carapace of C. gemeli lacks patterns in adults. It is elongated and relatively flat, with nearly parallel sides. The plastron is unpatterned and dark brown. The head is brown, and the throat and neck are uniformly dark.
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To alleviate this, an underwing bulge called a plastron was developed to correct airflow problems around the engine pylons and to add stiffness. European JAA certification was obtained on 22 December 1992; the FAA followed on 27 May 1993.
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However, unlike those of other cyamodontoids, the shell of Psephochelys only covers its back. The plastron, which covers the underside of other cyamodontoids, is absent, and in its place are rib-like gastralia surrounded by loosely connecting osteoderms or bony plates.
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CRC Press, Boca Raton. Pp. 1- 16.Cebra-Thomas, J. A., Betters, E., Yin, M., Plafkin, C., McDow, K., and Gilbert, S. F. 2007. A late-emerging population of trunk neural crest cells forms the plastron in the turtle Trachemys scripta.
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While originally distinguished based on the presence of fontanelles on the plastron, the feature was later identified on T. hugii and E. ignoratum was designated a junior synonym. Additional material from the Kimmeridgian of the United Kingdom has also been referred to T. hugii. The second valid species of Thalassemys is T. marina, named in 1903 by Fraas for a partial carapace and half a plastron from the late Kimmeridgian deposits of Schnaitheim, Germany. It was suggested to be a species of the related taxon Eurysternum by Maisch in 2001, who referred additional material from Schnaitheim to the species.
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Adult female Chelodina canni Adults can be diagnosed by the wide, rounded carapace with a moderately deep midvertebral trough; a median carapacial keel either absent or minimal, being most observable in the eastern populations; a wide plastron with dark seams on an otherwise uniformly yellow plastron; first and second marginal scutes equal or nearly equal in dorsal surface area; wide head with a red to pink suffusion on the head, neck, and limbs; and bluntly pointed neck tubercles. Hatchlings have an extensive orange-red ventral head, neck, and plastral pattern extending well onto the dorsal aspect of the marginal scutes.
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Lingzhi (lit. "spirit mushrooms"), ginseng, Luo Han Guo, turtle shell underbelly (plastron), and dried curled snakes. Chinese red ginseng roots A bile bear in a "crush cage" on Huizhou Farm, China. Dried seahorses are extensively used in traditional medicine in China and elsewhere.
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The carapace of this species is reddish brown, ovoid to elongated, with or without fine, radiating, black patterns. The plastron is mostly yellow with or without fine, radiating, black lines. The head is speckled and the throat is yellow. The neck is striped.
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Hardella thurjii has a shell with a large, moderately flat, dark brown or black carapace (dorsal surface) and a yellow or black plastron (ventral surface).Boulenger GA (1889). Catalogue of the Chelonians, Rhynchocephalians, and Crocodiles in the British Museum (Natural History). New Edition.
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Adanson's mud turtle is a medium- sized turtle that lives in freshwater. The turtle's shell can grow up to (straight carapace length) and is known to be sharp and rigid, with dark brown spots and dashes. The ventral part of the shell (plastron) is yellow.
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Imperial Guard during the Second French Empire, 1852 to 1870. He is wearing a white kirtka with a blue plastron and red epaulettes. A kurtka () is the generic word for a jacket in a number of European languages, most notably in Polish and Russian.
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They are generally brown in color, but lighter brown ventrally. They possess a plastron which indicates the capacity to live for short periods in a subaquatic environment or, at least in a habitat that is water-saturated. Larval development probably spans over two years.
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The head is rather small, with a pointed and upwards-tending snout. The legs have band- like scales. The upper surface of the carapace and the soft parts are generally olive-brown, while the plastron is yellowish. Head and neck are brown with reddish bases.
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The carapace has five pairs of costal scutes. In each bridge adjoining the plastron to the carapace are four inframarginal scutes, each of which is perforated by a pore. The head has two pairs of prefrontal scales. These turtles change color as they mature.
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The male has a notably longer tail than the female of this species, and the tails end in a spine. Females possess a flat plastron, yet males have a more concave one.Tabaka, Chris, DVM (2003). "Differentiating Male and Female Kinixys spekii (Speck's [sic] hingeback tortoise)".
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Conservation Biology of Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises: A Compilation Project of the IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group. Chelonian Research Monographs No. 5. pp. 000.85-000.164, They are divided into two morphologically distinct groups. The yellow plastron of a juvenile Cyclemys dentata.
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The hinges of the box turtle's lower shell The common box turtle (Terrapene carolina) gets its common name from the structure of its shell which consists of a high domed carapace (upper shell), and large, hinged plastron (lower shell) which allows the turtle to close the shell, sealing its vulnerable head and limbs safely within an impregnable box. The carapace is brown, often adorned with a variable pattern of orange or yellow lines, spots, bars or blotches. The plastron is dark brown and may be uniformly coloured, or show darker blotches or smudges. The common box turtle has a small to moderately sized head and a distinctive hooked upper jaw.
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The form of the plastron determines its gender. After a few years of life, show differences between male and female. Males have a penis that is inserted into the tail. It becomes apparent only during the mating season when it is inserted into the female's cloaca.
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Overall colour can vary from rusty red to brown and almost black. The plastron varies from cream to pale pink. The skin colouration is similar to that of the shell and often has salmon pink present on the tail and limbs. The iris can be pale blue.
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A somewhat similar mechanism is used by the diving bell spider, which maintains an underwater bubble that exchanges gas like a plastron. Other diving insects (such as backswimmers, and hydrophilid beetles) may carry trapped air bubbles, but deplete the oxygen more quickly, and thus need constant replenishment.
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Chinese-stripe-necked turtles have a green body. As a juvenile, its carapace is grayish green and there are three distinctive ridges. As an adult, the color fades to a brown color and the two ridges gradually disappear. The plastron is ivory in color with small black spots.
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The regiment was part of the 4th Cavalry Brigade of then II Royal Bavarian Army Corps and later III Royal Bavarian Army Corps. The peacetime uniform was of dark green with crimson plastron and facings. A czapka with crimson top and white plume was worn in full dress.
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In this species, the carapace is reddish brown, ovoid to elongated, with wide, radiating, black lines or large, black specks. The plastron is mostly yellow and may have short, fat lines, specks, or be uniformly colored. The head is speckled, with a yellow throat. The neck is striped.
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The third vertebral is considerably longer than broad, subquadrangular, and its posterior border is straight or slightly convex. The fourth vertebral is longest, tapering anteriorly and forming a narrow suture with the third. The fifth vertebral is much broader than the others. The large plastron is feebly angulated laterally.
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A black marsh turtle from Indonesia. The shape of the upper jaws of black marsh turtles is the reason for their common name 'smiling terrapin'. The plastron of a black marsh turtle. Adult black marsh turtles are usually small to medium-sized, averaging at around in length and rarely exceeding .
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The bridge is relatively broad. We have seen few specimens of Mesoclemmys dahli, but in those measured the plastral formula was: intergul > fem > abd > pect > an > hum >< gul. The intergular completely separates the gulars. Plastron, bridge, and undersides of the marginals are cream to yellow with gray pigment outlining the seams.
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This turtle gets its name from its reddish plastron or undershell. They have flattened or slightly concave vertebral scutes with a red bar on each marginal scute. Their upper shell or carapace ranges from brown to black. An arrow-shaped stripe runs atop head, between the eyes, to their snout.
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The close-up The European pond turtle is a medium-sized turtle, and its straight carapace length varies quite a bit across its geographic range, from . The carapace is dark brown to blackish, with a hint of green. The head and legs are spotted with yellow. The plastron is yellowish.
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The plastron is composed of 12 scutes and has no mesoplastron; the pectoral and abdominal scutes contact the marginal scutes. Some other features include a single articulation between the fifth and sixth cervical vertebrae, the lack of a hyomandibular branch of the facial nerve, and an epipterygoid bone in the skull.
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In the enigmatic leaf turtle, the carapace is dark brown and slightly reddish, ovoid, and lacks patterns in adults. The plastron is dark brown to black with or without dense, black, radiating patterns. The head is tan to a light reddish-brown in color. The throat and neck are uniformly dark.
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This species was originally described in 1885 by French zoologist Léon Vaillant, who proposed it as the species Testudo yniphora based on the distinguished shape of the anterior part of the plastron. The angonoka tortoise (A. yniphora) and the radiated tortoise (A. radiata) are the only species in the genus Astrochelys.
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Female The yellow-headed box turtle or golden-headed box turtle (Cuora aurocapitata) is a proposed species of turtle in the family Geoemydidae (formerly Bataguridae). It is sometimes considered a subspecies of Pan's box turtle (Coura pani aurocapitata). Plastron This turtle is endemic to the central Chinese Anhui province.Blanck, T. & M. Tang (2005).
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Black marsh turtles are sexually dimorphic. Males have concave plastra in contrast to the flat plastron of females. The markings around the eyes and throat, present in all juveniles, disappear among males upon reaching adulthood while they are retained in females. The tails are also longer and thicker for males than for females.
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Testudo hellenica shares with Eurotestudo, T. marginata and T. marmorum an elongated shell, although the plastron of the holotype of T. marmorum is different to that of T. hellenica.Lapparent de Broin F de, Bour R, Perälä JF (2006a) Morphological definition of Eurotestudo (Testudinidae, Chelonii): First part. Annales de Paléontologie 92 (3): 255–304.
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311–340 These are joined by an area called the bridge. The actual suture between the bridge and the plastron is called the anterior bridge strut. In Pleurodires the posterior pelvis is also part of the carapace, fully fused with it. This is not the case in Cryptodires which have a floating pelvis.
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More derived pan-testudines, such as the earliest turtle Odontochelys, have a plastron. The following cladogram shows the phylogenetic position of the Eunotosaurus, from Ruta et al., 2011. The cladogram below follows the most likely result found by another analysis of turtle relationships, published by Rainer Schoch and Hans-Dieter Sues in 2015.
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Hatchlings have a lighter carapace with yellow and orange markings and a carapacial rim. Stripes in the same color are also found on the face and neck. Their plastron is generally dark in color. As the turtle ages, these colors fade and are lost, resulting in the dark-brown coloration characteristic of adults.
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Eileanchelys is a small turtle, with an approximate carapace length of . The preserved carapaces of Eileanchelys are all slightly crushed, but show that they were lightly domed in real life. Therefore, the morphology of its shell was similar to Kayentachelys. There is a fused connection of the carapace and plastron in Eileanchelys.
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Fritz and Wischuf, 1997. The nominate subspecies occurs in central Turkey and northern Iran, northward to the Republic of Georgia and eastward to southwestern Turkmenistan. It has wider reticulations on its carapace than M. c. rivulata, and a yellow-to-tan plastron with a regularly shaped, large, dark blotch on each scute.
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The eastern mud turtle is a small and often hard to identify species. It measures in carapace length. The carapace is keelless, lacks any pattern, and varies in color from yellowish to black. The plastron is large and double hinged, and can be yellowish to brown, and may sometimes have a dark pattern.
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Cagle's map turtle has intricate patterns on the carapace and plastron, as well as serrated edges on the posterior of the carapace, as is typical of all map turtles. It is smaller than most map turtles, and very sexually dimorphic, with males reaching only straight carapace length, while females can exceed in straight carapace length.
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It is the largest species in the genus Pelusios, with a carapace length of up to 55 cm. Females are larger than males. Males can also be distinguished by their slightly longer tails. For defence, the hinged plastron closes to protect the head and forelimbs, and the terrapin also secretes a foul odour when threatened.
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The pectoral and pelvic plates were connected by a plastron, a bone cage formed by the paired belly ribs that each had a middle and an outer section. This arrangement immobilised the entire trunk. To become flippers, the limbs had changed considerably. The limbs were very large, each about as long as the trunk.
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Diagram of a prawn, with the carapace highlighted in red. A carapace is a dorsal (upper) section of the exoskeleton or shell in a number of animal groups, including arthropods, such as crustaceans and arachnids, as well as vertebrates, such as turtles and tortoises. In turtles and tortoises, the underside is called the plastron.
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The carapace is generally black in color, though some may be brown. It is broad and flattened with a deep medial groove. The scutes are edged in black in those individuals with a lighter background color. The plastron is also very broad and is cream to yellow in color with sutures edged in black.
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The gopher tortoise is a fairly large terrestrial reptile which possesses forefeet well adapted for burrowing, and elephantine hind feet. These features are common to most tortoises. The front legs have scales to protect the tortoise while burrowing. G. polyphemus is dark brown to gray-black in overall color, with a yellow plastron (bottom shell).
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Prior to the outbreak of war, the full dress uniform of the Canadian Corps of Guides comprised a khaki "lancer style" tunic with scarlet plastron, cuffs and collars. The tunic was piped in scarlet, as were the khaki trousers. A white helmet with bronze spike and scarlet/khaki puggaree was included for parade dress.
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The plastron is hingeless and slightly smaller than the carapace. Each of the bottom sides of the marginals has a spot. The skin is brown with an olive to greenish tint with yellow striping. There is a distinct bar behind the eyes that can vary from yellow to red and be either thin or wide.
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The carapace is dark brown, almost black, but shows some variation from "normal" turtle patterns. The plastron is a light brown, tan color. C. novaeguineae has a long neck, which (including the head) can sometimes exceed the length of the carapace. The skin is mostly gray, except for black on the head, and white on the underparts.
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The body of T. coahuila is adapted for spending long periods of time in the water, and the shell is often covered in algae. Just like any other box turtle, it has a hinged plastron that can be completely closed. The skin is dark, usually dark brown and dark gray, but some areas can appear completely black.
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Yellow rays extend outwards from the center of each scute. Scutes along the borders of the shell (marginal) are usually dark in color, surrounded by a yellow band. The lower shell (plastron) usually appears to be yellow in color, with scattered dark spots or rays. The limbs are covered with scales that range from yellow to brown in color.
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The plastron is narrow and the shell does not display any noticeable expansion anteriorly. The shell is usually twice as long as wide and is broadest at the level of the bridge. The head is broad and highly depressed and the eyes are directly dorsolateral. When extended, the neck may surpass the measurement of the carapace.
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The carapace of this species is broadly oval, but is blunt at the front. In younger animals, it has keeled scutes along the back. The carapace is dark brown to black in color, smooth with no growth annuli and generally lackluster. The plastron is heavily stained in adults, appearing black over the true base color of yellow to cream.
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These tortoises may attain a length of , with males being slightly larger than females. A male tortoise has a longer gular horn than a female, his plastron (lower shell) is concave compared to a female tortoise. Males have larger tails than females do. Their shells are high-domed, and greenish-tan to dark brown in color.
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A female tends to have a shorter tail and a broader carapace. A hatchling has a shell size of about in length, and is olive to black in color. It also has two small tubercles under the chin and musk glands in the sides of the carapace. Uniquely, the genus Pelomedusa does not have a hinged plastron (lower shell).
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The eggs are surrounded by amniotic membranes which prevents them from drying out and are laid on land, or develop internally in some species. The bladder is small as nitrogenous waste is excreted as uric acid. Turtles are notable for their protective shells. They have an inflexible trunk encased in a horny carapace above and a plastron below.
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Adult male yellow-bellied sliders typically reach in length; females range from . The carapace (upper shell) is typically brown and black, often with yellow stripes. The skin is olive green with prominent patches of yellow down the neck and legs. As the name implies, the plastron (bottom shell) is mostly yellow with black spots along the edges.
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The plastron is orange-red, and may also have large dark blotches. The limbs and head are olive dorsally with the forelimbs lighter and the hind-limbs orange-red ventrally. There are dark flecks on the head and dark lines that radiate from the eyes. The throat is mottled and there may be small, dark bars on the lips.
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The carapace is highly domed and light brown in colour with prominent growth rings on each scute. The outer parts of the vertebral are a darker brown. The gular scute of the plastron projects forward between the front legs and curves upward toward the neck. Males are larger than females, reaching a carapace length up to .
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The Chinese three-keeled pond turtle (M. reevesii) is threatened by competition with released pet red-eared sliders (Trachemys scripta elegans), overhunting (its plastron is used in traditional Chinese medicine), (2008): Reptiles used in traditional folk medicine: conservation implications. Biodiversity and Conservation 17(8): 2037–2049. (HTML abstract, PDF first page) capturing for the pet trade, and wild habitat destruction.
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The plastron is yellow with a brown to black pattern which usually extends between the pectorals and femorals. Head and neck are considerably shorter than the carapace. The snout slightly protrudes and the upper jaw is neither notched nor serrated. Head and neck are gray, throat and chin yellow, and the yellowish upper jaws are seldom marked with dark pigment.
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The scutes may also have a radiating arrangement of lines. In some older individuals, and those that burrow frequently in coarse substrates, the shell may be smooth. Although generally black, a chestnut sunburst pattern in each scute is sometimes present on the carapace. The belly of the shell, the plastron, is also a dark brown to black color with light marks present.
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Lujan AH, Delfino M, Robles JM, Alba DM (2016). The Miocene tortoise Testudo catalaunica Bataller, 1926 and a revised phylogeny of extinct species of genus Testudo (Testudines: Testudinidae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society The species Testudo hellenica was named in 2020. The holotype, LGPUT RPI-216, preserves a carapace, plastron and several bones underneath, including a fused humerus and scapula.
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The plastron is narrow compared to the carapace. The head is large and robust with a complete head shield that does not approach the ears. The tomial sheath is large, and inside an alveolar ridge is distinct and well formed. The head is typically dark brown to grey above and, in females, is usually blotched with cream to white in the throat region.
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Dark rings are usually present on the lower surface of each outer scute. It contains a hingeless yellow plastron (bottom half of shell) notched in the back. A narrow black margin borders the edge of each scute. It has a brown to olive head with a large mark that ranges from light green to yellow located between and behind the eyes.
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Plastron of Trachemys emolli The Nicaraguan slider has a carapace with many circular markings on it, and in the middle of each marking, there is a dark spot. The main color of the carapace and the turtle's skin is olive green to dark brown. It also has yellow markings on it as well. The supratemporal markings can be orange, pink, or yellow.
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Raphael, as depicted in the 2012 Nickelodeon series. Raphael is voiced by Sean Astin in the 2012 series. Raphael's character design was updated, giving him green eyes as well as a small, lightning-shaped chip out of his plastron across his left shoulder. In this incarnation, Raphael is described (in the theme song) as having "the most attitude on the team".
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Females are also typically larger than males. The head is vaguely triangular in shape, with a pointed snout and sharp beak, and yellow-green striping from the tip of the nose to the neck. Barbels are present on the chin and the throat. The plastron is relatively small, offering little protection for the legs, and has only one transverse, anterior hinge.
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The dorsal color of A. marmorata is usually dark brown or dull olive, with or without darker reticulations or streaking. The plastron is yellowish, sometimes with dark blotches in the centers of the scutes. The straight carapace length is . The carapace is low and broad, usually widest behind the middle, and in adults is smooth, lacking a keel or serrations.
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On juveniles, the carapace is dark brown or black, however this color fades with age. Yellow dots, and the occasional black spot, can be found on the shell, but these too fade as the turtle gets older. Its plastron is sexually dimorphic, appearing white in males and gray in females. The head of Amyda cartilaginea can be black or brown.
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The risk of death is greatest in small animals due to their size and weaker carapace and plastron. While the shell of an adult box turtle is seldom fractured, the box turtle is still vulnerable to surprise attacks and persistent gnawing or pecking. Common predators are mammals like minks, skunks, raccoons, dogs and rodents, but also birds (e.g. crows, ravens) and snakes (e.g.
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The egg-shaped carapace is rough textured without keels or marginal serrations and tends to be olive to brown in color. The vertebral scutes are broad, the first of which connects to four marginal and the cervical scute. The marginal scutes are yellow and may be blotched. The yellow plastron is unhinged and unmarked with the bridges containing one or two dark splotches.
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A plastron is a type of structural adaptation occurring among some aquatic arthropods (primarily insects), a form of inorganic gill which holds a thin film of atmospheric oxygen in an area with small openings called spiracles that connect to the tracheal system. The plastron typically consists of dense patches of hydrophobic setae on the body, which prevent water entry into the spiracles, but may also involve scales or microscopic ridges projecting from the cuticle. The physical properties of the interface between the trapped air film and surrounding water allow gas exchange through the spiracles, almost as if the insect were in atmospheric air. Carbon dioxide diffuses into the surrounding water due to its high solubility, while oxygen diffuses into the film as the concentration within the film has been reduced by respiration, and nitrogen also diffuses out as its tension has been increased.
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The Vietnamese pond turtle or Annam leaf turtle (Mauremys annamensis) is a species of turtle in the family Geoemydidae. It can be distinguished from its relatives by its color pattern: the head is dark with three or four yellow stripes down the side. The plastron (belly shield) is firmly attached, yellow or orange, with a black blotch on each scute.Asian Turtle Network: Mauremys annamensis.
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The carapace is brown to gray or black. The plastron covers much of the carapacial opening, is slightly upturned anteriorly, and is posteriorly notched. The intergular scute completely separates the gulars, but not the humerals, and is slightly shorter than, or about the same length as, its distance from the abdominals. The plastral formula is variable, but the femoral, abdominal and intergular scutes are usually longest.
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This species’ carapace features a row of low vertebral spines, and is serrated on the posterior rim. The carapace is olive, dark brown, or black in coloration with light yellowish markings with dark borders. The plastron color varies from cream to yellow and is patterned with dark lines and swirls. The body color is grayish brown to blackish and is marked with yellowish stripes.
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"Rhino horn: All myth, no medicine", National Geographic, Rhishja Larson Concerns have also arisen over the use of pangolin scales, turtle plastron, seahorses, and the gill plates of mobula and manta rays. Illegal pangolin sales at animal markets are suggested as a possible method of the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 to humans. Poachers hunt restricted or endangered species to supply the black market with TCM products.
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All the other species in the family Pelomedusidae, however, do have this feature with which they can, using muscles, close the plastron to the carapace to cover the head and front limbs. Unlike many chelonians, the African helmeted turtle is able, when it finds itself upside down, to right itself with a vigorous flick of its long muscular neck.Baard EHW (1994). Cape Tortoises: Their identification and care.
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The jacket was now plain and single-breasted without the plastron front and worn with a white pouch belt over the left shoulder. In 1879 a new light dragoon tunic was taken into use, with Hussar lacing across the front, and white instead of red trouser stripes. A blue pillbox forage cap with a white band became the undress headgear.Barlow & Smith, pp. 9–10.
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The Florida redbelly can be distinguished from other similar turtles by its distinctive red-tinged plastron (belly) and two cusps (like teeth) on its upper beak. Like most Pseudemys turtles, this species is a fairly large river turtle. Carapace length in mature turtles can range from . Females, which average in carapace length and weigh , are noticeably larger than males, which are around and in mass.
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Denazinemys was a genus of baenodd turtle that lived in the Late Cretaceous of New Mexico. The holotype specimen, which D. nodosa was based on, USNM 8345, consists of a partial carapace and plastron. It came from the De-na-zin Member of the Kirtland Formation, and therefore, Denazinemys lived in the Kirtlandian land-vertebrate age. Many specimens other than the holotype have been assigned to Denazinemys.
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The shell is divided into two sections: the upper or dorsal carapace, and the lower, ventral carapace or plastron. The upper carapace consists of the vertebral scutes, which form the central, elevated portion; pleural scutes that are located around the vertebral scutes; and then the marginal scutes around the edge of the carapace. The rear marginal scutes are notched. The scutes are bony keratinous elements.
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Ancient rock art depicting a camel. The oldest evidence of art in the Somali peninsula are pre-historic rock paintings. The rock art of Laas Geel are thought to be some of the best preserved in Africa, representing cows in ceremonial robes accompanied by humans. The necks of the cows are embellished with a kind of plastron, some of the cows are depicted as wearing decorative robes.
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The recovery programs will include legal protection for the turtles which will affect turtle trading. Large quantities of turtle shell are used as an ingredient in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). For instance, Taiwan confirmed that 940 tons of hard shelled turtle bone and 200 tons of soft shell turtle bones were imported between 1992 and 1998. The plastron - the belly shell - is used in TCM prescriptions.
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The posterior margin of the plastron terminates in a V-shaped notch. Although sometimes speckled with yellowish spots, the upper surface of the head is often a dark gray to solid black. The ventral surfaces of the neck, chin, and legs are orange to red with faint yellow stripes along the lower jaw of some individuals. Seasonal variation in color vibrancy have been known to occur.
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The ventral shell is lighter-coloured and has pairs of triangular markings with the points facing the rear of the animal. The front sides of the limbs are covered with large scales. In an old female specimen, the rear flaps of the underside of her plastron is somewhat moveable. The tail is notable for a lengthwise marking and for an undivided carapace over the tail.
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Life restoration of Proganochelys The broadened ribs on Proganochelys show "metaplastic ossification of the dermis". The enlarged ribs suggest that the endochondral rib ossifications were joined by a second ossification instead of having expanded ribs. The 220-million-year-old stem-turtle Odontochelys only has a partially formed shell. Odontochelys is believed to only possess the underside element of a shell known as a plastron.
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These more-or-less symmetrically arranged plastral spots may merge to one dark central spot, but a yellow border to the plastron often remains. The soft parts are mainly dark, and the bridge is mainly yellow with some dark lines or spots (but may be dark in old melanistic individuals). Its plastral formula is ' for males, and ' for females. Siebenrock's Caspian turtle (M. c.
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Differentiating female and male red-footed tortoisesMales are slightly larger and more colorful overall. The carapace of a male from north of the Amazon basin shows a 'wasp waist', or constrictions along the sides. The male's plastron is deeply indented to help with positioning during mating. The male's tail is long and muscular, generally carried along a side while the female's tail is short and conical.
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On the bridge, the inguinal and axillary scutes are nearly equal in length, or the inguinal is slightly larger. Plastron and bridge are yellow with at least two black elongated blotches on each scute, except the gulars and anals which have only a single blotch. The head is moderate in size with a projecting, short, pointed snout. Its upper jaw is not medially notched.
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The plastron can have a dark or light (tan to yellow) background which can be uniform or patterned with fine lines radiating from the center of each plastral scute. Their feet are partially webbed and well developed for either aquatic or terrestrial mobility. They can grow to about in length. Cyclemys species achieve sexual maturity after seven to 12 years, earlier for males and later for females.
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The bottom shell (plastron) is yellow, sometimes red, sometimes with dark markings in the center. Similar to the top shell, the turtle's skin is olive to black, but with red and yellow stripes on its neck, legs, and tail. As with other pond turtles, such as the bog turtle, the painted turtle's feet are webbed to aid swimming. The head of the turtle is distinctive.
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The Brazilian snake-necked turtle is a small species reaching a straight carapace length of between with a weight of . The carapace of the adult is oval in shape varying in color from dark gray, through to dark or light brown. The plastron is a yellow or cream color. The species has a moderate-sized head with a small snout and yellowish jaws, with no barbels on the chin.
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The latter is now in the family Cheloniidae. A second specimen, a skull, was discovered in 1897 in the same region. In 1900, Wieland described a second species, A. marshii, from remains collected in 1898 by American paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh, to whom the species name refers, on the basis that the shell underside (plastron) was thicker and the humeri were straighter. However, in 1909, Wieland reclassified it as Protostega marshii.
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The males have a larger average body size than females, likely to facilitate males during male–male interactions during mate selection. The female has a wider and higher shell than the male, but the male's head is squared and larger than a female's of the same age. The plastron of the male looks slightly concave while the female's is flat. The male's tail is longer and thicker than the female's.
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Many species of tortoises are sexually dimorphic, though the differences between males and females vary from species to species. In some species, males have a longer, more protruding neck plate than their female counterparts, while in others, the claws are longer on the females. The male plastron is curved inwards to aid reproduction. The easiest way to determine the sex of a tortoise is to look at the tail.
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As an egg, it has been described as a whitish cylinder with a tapered anterior end and blunt posterior end. The egg is generally 1.62 to 1.75 mm in length and 0.5–0.7 mm in width. These eggs are generally larger than other callophorid eggs. On the dorsal surface of the egg, there are two hatching pleats on either side of the chorion, which acts as a plastron.
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The sheath of the turtle's upper jaw possesses a denticulated edge, while its lower jaw has stronger, serrated, more defined denticulation. The dorsal surface of the turtle's head has a single pair of prefrontal scales. Its carapace is composed of five central scutes flanked by four pairs of lateral scutes. Underneath, the green turtle has four pairs of inframarginal scutes covering the area between the turtle's plastron and its shell.
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Henodus, like many other placodonts, had a superficial resemblance to a turtle. Like turtles, it had a shell formed from a plastron on the underside and a carapace on top. The carapace extended well beyond the limbs, and was made up of individual plates of bony scutes covered by plates of horn. However, the shell was composed of many more pieces of bone than that of turtles, forming a mosaic pattern.
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Belly of the Egyptian tortoise Kleinmann's tortoise is the smallest tortoise in the Northern Hemisphere. Female tortoises are larger than the males; males are more slender and have a longer tail. The plastron has a high dome, and ranges in color from ivory to pale gold to dark brown to pink or dull yellow. This colouring strongly follows Gloger's rule, as it helps to regulate the impact of sunlight.
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The Vallarta mud turtle (Kinosternon vogti) is a recently identified species of mud turtle in the family Kinosternidae. While formerly considered conspecific with the Jalisco mud turtle, further studies indicated that it was a separate species. It can be identified by a combination of the number of plastron and carapace scutes, body size, and the distinctive yellow rostral shield in males. It is endemic to Mexican state of Jalisco.
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If they are forced to leave the eggshell before they are ready, they will return if possible. When a hatchling decides to leave the shell, it still has a small sac protruding from its plastron. The yolk sac is vital and provides nourishment while visible, and several days later it will have been absorbed into the turtle's belly. The sac must be absorbed, and does not fall off.
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It has a long neck and rather short legs. The yellow lines on the neck are a good field marker, and often can be seen from above in swimming turtles. Males can usually be distinguished from females by their significantly longer tails and by the spike that protrudes at the end of the tail. The anal vent on the underside of the tail extends out beyond the plastron on males.
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Larval instars 1-4 fed externally on the host, while instar 5 rapidly consumed the entire host body. Before pupating, the larvae built a separate pupal case from silk within the trichopteran pupal case. The wasp pupal case included a 1.5 cm silk ribbon which extended into the water, probably to act as a plastron. Adults emerged in the spring, after the water temperature had reached 10 degrees C.
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Plastron is angulate laterally in the young. The anterior and posterior lobes are rather narrow and shorter than the width of the bridge, truncate anteriorly and are openly notched posteriorly. The longest median suture is between the abdominals and the shortest is between the gulars, which equals about one half that between the humerals. The suture between gulars and humerals forms an obtuse angle, as does that between humerals and pectorals.
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The carapace is brown, sometimes yellow or orange bordered, with a red to orange medial stripe. The plastron is long and narrow; the forelobe is much shorter than the broad bridge, and the hindlobe is slightly shorter than the bridge and contains a posterior anal notch. The humero-pectoral seam joins the plastral seam at an obtuse angle. The plastral formula is: abd > fem > an >< hum > pect >< gul.
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Astrochelys is attributed to John Edward Gray, who used the name in his 1873 book Hand-list of the specimens of shield reptiles in the British Museum. The parent family for Astrochelys is Testudinidae, the tortoise family. The name angonoka comes from the Malagasy word used as the local name of the species. The alternative common name, ploughshare tortoise, refers to the appearance of the gular scute of the plastron.
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Adult males average slightly larger than females, but the largest specimens tend to be females. Males develop a distinctive incurving of sides, giving them a well-defined "waist", and a deeply in-curved plastron. The female has a short, conical tail, while the male has a longer, more muscular tail that is generally carried tucked along one side. The anal notch of the male is also larger, presumably to allow better tail mobility.
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The broad plastron and bridge are yellow with some dark pigment extending along the seams (sometimes covering most of a scute, but usually not the areola); this pigment fades with age. The fore lobe is broader than the hind lobe, which contains a deep posterior notch. The intergular scute is about half as long as the length of the fore lobe. The plastral formula is: intergul > fem > abd > hum > an > gul > pect.
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Nesting starts near the end of the wet season, in April–May, and hatchlings probably emerge between December and March. Clutch size ranges from 4-8 white, rounded (28-32.5 x 25.8–31 mm; 11-20 g), hard-shelled eggs (Cintra and Yamashita, 1989). Incubation takes over six months; hatchlings (about 3.8 mm) have orange-red spots on carapace, plastron, and sides of the neck. Snails form a large part of this turtle's diet.
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Myuchelys bellii is the largest species in the Myuchelys genus with adult males (up to 227 mm carapace length) smaller than females (up to 300 mm carapace length). They are a uniform light to dark brown color with a broad oval shape. Juveniles display a serrated posterior edge of the carapace this may persist into so adults but begin to smooth. The plastron in adults is a pale yellow with dark dark patches or streaks.
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The 2nd and 3rd vertebrals are also usually broader than long, but the 4th, the smallest of the series, may be slightly longer or as long as broad. The cervical scute is normally longer than broad. The well-developed plastron is notched posteriorly. Its forelobe is longer and broader than the hindlobe; the narrowness of the posterior lobe is particularly noticeable in males, and its breadth is only 36-38% of the plastral length.
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The Fitzroy River turtle is light to dark brown in color and grows to approximately 260 mm in carapace length. The shells of hatchlings (up to 95 mm long) are highly serrated while adults have rounded, smooth-edged shells. The plastron is lighter in color and tapers anteriorly and posteriorly. The carapace is highly reticulated to the naked eye, but this resolves as a series of parallel ridges with occasional cross ridging under low magnification.
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Close-up in Taum Sauk Mountain State Park Head Skull Holbrook's North American Herpetology, 1842 C. serpentina has a rugged, muscular build with a ridged carapace (upper shell), although ridges tend to be more pronounced in younger individuals. The carapace length in adulthood may be nearly , though is more common. C. serpentina usually weighs . Per one study, breeding common snapping turtles were found to average in carapace length, in plastron length and weigh about .
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Many insects, such as grasshoppers and bees, which actively pump the air sacs in their abdomen, are able to control the flow of air through their body. In some aquatic insects, the tracheae exchange gas through the body wall directly, in the form of a gill, or function essentially as normal, via a plastron. Note that despite being internal, the tracheae of arthropods are lined with cuticular tissue and are shed during moulting (ecdysis).
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Cutaneous dyskeratosis (CD) is a shell disease of unknown origin and has unknown implications on desert tortoise populations. Observationally, it is typified by shell lesions on the scutes. Areas infected with CD appear discolored, dry, rough and flakey, with peeling, pitting, and chipping through multiple cornified layers. Lesions are usually first located on the plastron (underside) of the tortoises, although lesions on the carapace (upper side) and fore limbs are not uncommon.
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The marginal shields, which can be described as the rim around the shell is yellow. In addition, the lower portion of the shell, also known as the plastron, is yellow as well. The superior of the head is grey in color, and the inferior and the sides are cream and light yellow. One thing that separates them from other species of turtles is that the first vertebral scute and second marginal shield do not connect.
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The carapace (top portion of the shell) is elliptical and flattened with two raised portions (keels) forming a trough (depression). The carapace is orange to yellow-brown and black in various amounts depending on subspecies. The plastron (lower portion of the shell) is dark brown or black in color while the bridge (side portion of the shell) is yellow with a black bar across. The consistency of these bars also depends on subspecies.
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It may be corrected by adding protein to meals, especially through fish. Placing turtles in abrasive surfaces can also cause plastron injuries, which provide an entrance point to fungi and bacteria. Allowing the animal to maintain its temperature around an optimal point (between 28 and 34 degrees Celsius) is a necessity. Providing the turtles with daily sun light or special UV light so that they can properly metabolize vitamin D will avoid metabolic issues.
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Since it is generally accepted that the shell arose to provide protection against predators, the semi-aquatic nature of turtles and the development of the plastron complement each other. Ancestral turtles with protection on their underside are more protected from predators that attack from below. Based on this interpretation, the development of the carapace was likely driven in a land animal. Reisz and Head (2008), however, have a different interpretation on the same specimen.
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The gastralia (rib-like bones covering the abdomen) are tightly packed and occasionally fused together, forming a structure similar to the plastron of turtles. Unlike turtles, Pappochelys has teeth in its jaws and two pairs of holes in the back of the skull called temporal fenestrae. The presence of two pairs of fenestrae make the skull of Pappochelys diapsid, as opposed to the anapsid skulls of turtles that lack any temporal fenestrae.
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Plastron view of a young red-footed tortoise from Brazil, also called 'cherryhead' The southern variants' carapaces are often not quite black to dark brown, sometimes with light grey or whitish between the scutes. Their plastrons are mostly dark in a symmetrical mottled pattern. Size tends to be larger on average then northeastern variants, with the largest individuals found in this area. Fore limbs feature a slightly enlarged scale on the side of the 'elbow'.
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The wingspan is 10–11 mm. The forewing is metallic brown with three distinctive gold spots. Adults are on wing from early May to mid July and are day active.The Life History and Behaviour of Epimartyria pardella The larvae feed on liverworts, including Conocephalum conicum and Pellia speciesA review of the North American genus Epimartyria (Lepidoptera, Micropterigidae) with a discussion of the larval plastron and take about two years to fully develop.
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In some species, shells may have red, orange, yellow, or grey markings, often spots, lines, or irregular blotches. One of the most colorful turtles is the eastern painted turtle, with a yellow plastron and a black or olive shell with red markings around the rim. Tortoises have rather heavy shells. In contrast, aquatic and soft-shelled turtles have lighter shells that help them avoid sinking in water and swim faster and with more agility.
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A mature male's cloaca extends beyond the carapace edge, a female's is placed exactly on the edge if not nearer to the plastron. The base of the tail of the male is also thicker as compared to that of the female because of the hidden reproductive organs. The inside of the turtle's mouth is camouflaged, and it possesses a vermiform (i.e., "worm-shaped") appendage on the tip of its tongue used to lure fish, a form of aggressive mimicry.
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Red-eared slider basking on a floating platform under a sunlamp Plastron of a young red-eared slider turtle The carapace of this species can reach more than in length, but the average length ranges from . The females of the species are usually larger than the males. They typically live between 20 and 30 years, although some individuals have lived for more than 40 years. Their life expectancy is shorter when they are kept in captivity.
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While males consistently reach sexual maturity at small sizes, that size is larger and more variable in females. Some may reach maturity at a plastron length of 24 cm, and others may not mature until they reach a length closer to 30 cm. The onset of sexual maturity will occur anywhere from 5 – 8 years of age. The female nesting season can range anywhere from early April to early August, and incubation lasts an average of 60 – 90 days.
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Spiny softshell turtles have webbed feet, each with three claws. Another distinguishing feature of softshell turtles is the presence of a fleshy, elongated nose. The carapace (the upper part of the shell) ranges from brown or yellow-brown to olive in color, while the plastron (lower part of the shell) is lighter, usually white or yellow. Hatchlings usually have dark spots on the carapace, but as females age, they frequently become darker in color, or their carapace becomes splotched.
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Males can be distinguished from females by their longer and narrower tails. Pig-nosed turtles can grow to about carapace length, with a weight of over . C. insculpta in captivity Unlike the soft-shelled turtles of the family Trionychidae, pig-nosed turtles retain a domed bony carapace beneath their leathery skin, rather than a flat plate. They also retain a solid plastron, connected to the carapace by a strong bony bridge, rather than the soft margin of the trionychids.
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The first specimen of Desmatochelys was described by Samuel Wendell Williston in the Kansas University Quarterly in 1895. In his article he describes its discovery by a railroad worker near Fairbury, Nebraska. Williston was granted access to the specimen by his colleague M. A. Low, giving rise to the name ‘lowii’. This specimen was from the Late Cretaceous Benton Formation and included a nearly complete skull and lower jaw as well as pieces of the limbs, carapace, and plastron.
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Cratochelone berneyi is known only from one fossil, the holotype, specimen number "QM F14550". The specimen is composed of a grouping of disassociated post-cranial skeleton elements in a hard, fine-grained and "dirty-stone colored" sedimentary matrix. The bones include portions of the left side plastron, the shoulder girdle, and segments of a forelimb. The fossil is thought to have been recovered by F. L. Berney from outcrops of the Toolebuc Formation exposed in the Eromanga Basin.
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The yellow plastron with green spots is visible in this view. Mating can occur in spring, summer, and autumn. Yellow-bellied sliders are capable of interbreeding with other T. scripta subspecies, such as red-eared sliders, which are commonly sold as pets. The release of non-native red-eared sliders into local environments caused the state of Florida to ban the sale of red- eared sliders in order to protect the native population of yellow-bellied sliders.
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The 5-million-year difference that distinguish Odontochelys from Proganochelys tell us that the evolution of the shell occurred relatively quickly in time. Proganochelys possess both a carapace, the upper formation of the shell, and the plastron, the lower. The shell is believed to be used for protection an enhanced feature for survival. Proganochelys fits well into the order as a turtle, as the shell of Proganochelys is in agreement with the evolution of other stem-turtles.
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Aquatic arthropods generally possess some form of gills in which gas exchange takes place by diffusing through the exoskeleton. Others may breathe atmospheric air while remaining submerged, via breathing tubes or trapped air bubbles, though some aquatic insects may remain submerged indefinitely and respire using a plastron. A very few Arachnids have adopted an aquatic life style including the Diving bell spider. In all cases, oxygen is provided from air trapped by hairs around the animals body.
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River terrapins of different age cohorts: (from top to bottom) hatchling of about a week old, one year old and two years old. The northern river terrapin is one of Asia's largest freshwater and brackwater turtles, reaching a carapace length of up to 60 cm and a maximum weight of 18 kg. Its carapace is moderately depressed, with a vertebral keel in juveniles. The plastron is large, strongly angulate laterally in the young, convex in the adult.
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As hatchlings, they are almost entirely a dark purple on both sides, but mature adults have a yellow-green or white plastron and a grey-green carapace . Kemp's ridley has a triangular-shaped head with a somewhat hooked beak with large crushing surfaces. The skull is similar to that of the olive ridley. Unlike other sea turtles, the surface on the squamosal bone where the jaw opening muscles originate, faces to the side rather than to the back.
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Also known as a “sawback” turtle, the carapace features a vertebral row of low spines, and is serrated on the posterior rim. The carapace is olive to brown in color with light yellowish markings with dark borders. The plastron color varies from cream to yellow and is patterned with dark lines along the seams in juveniles. The body color of the false map turtle is grayish brown to blackish and is marked with light brown, yellow, or whitish stripes.
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The male Oaxaca mud turtle can grow to a carapace length of about with females a little smaller. The carapace has three distinctive longitudinal keels and is slightly depressed, the width being about 60% of the length and 35% of the height. The colour of the carapace is dark brown or blackish, or a mottling of the two, and in pale-coloured individuals, the seams are darker. The plastron is relatively narrow, being about two thirds the width of the carapace.
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The holotype, a carapace with a preserved plastron, was discovered c.1983 in the Ravin de la Pluie, Axios Valley from fossil sediments ranging from 9.149-9.046 Ma, although the formation may be as old as 11.608 Ma and as recent as 8.7 Ma.Bour R (1983) Les tortues terrestres du Palarctique. In Beaufort F. de (ed.), Espèces menacées et exploitées dans le monde. Guide pratique pour leur connaissance et leur identification. Secrétariat de la Faune et de la Flore, Paris, pp. 1–11.
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Between each of the pleurals are a series of neural bones, which although always present are not always visible, in many species of Pleurodire they are submerged below the pleurals. Beneath the neural bone is the Neural arch which forms the upper half of the encasement for the spinal chord. Below this the rest of the vertebral column. Some species of turtles have some extra bones called mesoplastra, which are located between the carapace and plastron in the bridge area.
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Glamorgan Yeomanry cap badge and Royal Artillery service cap, ca 1941.Anon, Regimental Badges. Although designated as a dragoon regiment when it joined the TF, the uniform of the Glamorgan Yeomanry was influenced by lancer styling. The full dress uniform for officers of the Glamorgan Yeomanry in 1909 consisted of a blue shell jacket with white lancer- style plastron front and cuffs, worn with blue overalls carrying double white stripes, and a lancer-style gold and crimson striped waist girdle.
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Thalassemys bruntrutana was described in 2015 by Püntener and colleagues for an almost complete carapace and plastron from a lower member of the Reunchenette Formation than other species, with referred material also from the British Kimmeridge Clay of the Isle of Purbeck. While the genus Thalassemys was placed in the family Thalassemydidae, it represents the only definitive member of the family due to the uncertain relationships of other members of Thalassochelydia, primarily due to the lack of cranial material in Thalassemys.
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They are called "softshell" because their carapaces lack horny scutes (scales), though the spiny softshell, Apalone spinifera, does have some scale-like projections, hence its name. The carapace is leathery and pliable, particularly at the sides. The central part of the carapace has a layer of solid bone beneath it, as in other turtles, but this is absent at the outer edges. Some species also have dermal bones in the plastron, but these are not attached to the bones of the shell.
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The pond slider (Trachemys scripta) is a species of common, medium-sized, semiaquatic turtle. There are three subspecies, the most recognizable of which is the red-eared slider (T. s. elegans), which is popular in the pet trade and has been introduced to other parts of the world by people releasing it to the wild. Hatchling and juvenile pond sliders have a greenish upper shell (carapace), yellow bottom shell (plastron) and green and yellow stripes and markings on their skin.
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Odontochelys only possessed the bottom portion of a turtle's armor, the plastron. It did not yet have a solid carapace as most other turtles do. Instead of a solid carapace, Odontochelys possessed broadened ribs like those of modern turtle embryos that still have not started developing the ossified plates of a carapace. Aside from the presence of teeth and the absence of a solid carapace, a few other skeletal traits distinguish Odontochelys as basal compared to other turtles, extant and otherwise.
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There are approximately 2000 species of true water beetles native to lands throughout the world. Many water beetles carry an air bubble, called the elytra cavity, underneath their abdomens, which provides an air supply, and prevents water from getting into the spiracles. Others have the surface of their exoskeleton modified to form a plastron, or "physical gill", which permits direct gas exchange with the water. Some families of water beetles have fringed hind legs adapted for swimming, but most do not.
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Females sometimes seem to intentionally use low limbs to knock males off. A receptive female extends her hind legs and lifts her plastron as the male plants himself on his own extended hind legs as he works to align their cloacae for insertion. The tail, scutes, and penis of the tortoise are designed to work around the awkwardness of the shell. The male often leans his head over her head and holds his jaws wide open making calls that get louder.
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The pattern of scutes on the carapace (upper left) and plastron (upper right) of the shell of Cyclemys: Shown in broken lines are the secondary divisions of the abdominal scutes, a distinguishing characteristic of the genus which only occurs in adults. Cyclemys turtles are characterized by more or less round carapaces, which are typically dark green, brownish, tan, or olive in color. The shell may have a prominent vertebral keel running from head to tail. Serrated marginal scutes are common in juveniles.
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In the head, thorax, or abdomen, tracheae may also be connected to air sacs. Many insects, such as grasshoppers and bees, which actively pump the air sacs in their abdomen, are able to control the flow of air through their body. In some aquatic insects, the tracheae exchange gas through the body wall directly, in the form of a gill, or function essentially as normal, via a plastron. Note that despite being internal, the tracheae of arthropods are shed during moulting (ecdysis).
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The spotted turtle (Clemmys guttata), the only species of the genus Clemmys, is a small, semi-aquatic turtle that reaches a carapace length of Spotted Turtle , Natural Resources Canada upon adulthood. Their broad, smooth, low dark-colored upper shell, or carapace, ranges in its exact colour from black to a bluish black with a number of tiny yellow round spots. The spotting patterning extends from the head, to the neck and out onto the limbs. Sexually mature males have a concave plastron and a long, thick tail.
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The Okavango mud turtle is the largest species of the genus Pelusios. The carapace is oval and elongated, with a pronounced dome, and is evenly rounded at the edges which allows the turtle to appear as a smooth rock. The carapace is very dark, often almost black, and lightens up to yellow or orange only at the sides. The plastron is well developed and can close the shell completely, with a rounded front lobe that comes together to form the hinge that is characteristic of the genus.
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The Alamos mud turtles are slightly less than average in size compared to other members of the same genus. Males tend to be larger than females, with matured females having an average carapace length of 95–100 mm, compared to an average of 90–120 mm with their male counterparts. When males are compared to females, there are a few notable differences. Males have a much narrower carapace, a shorter plastron, a shorter plastral hind lobe, narrower plastral lobes, a shorter bridge, and a shorter interanal seam.
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Imperial French lancer from 1812 Lancers typically wore a double-breasted jacket (kurtka) with a coloured panel (plastron) at the front, a coloured sash, and a square-topped Polish cap (czapka). Their lances usually had small swallow-tailed flags (known as the lance pennon) just below the spear head. The pennons were normally removed or wrapped in a canvas cover on active service. With the improved range and accuracy of infantry rifles, the high-profile presented by lancers with their conspicuous weapons became a problem.
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This alt=This shaded bog turtle specimen is resting in the palm of a person's hand, highlighting its petite size. The upper shell (carapace) of most emydids is the shape of a low arch, although in some species, it is domed. The upper shell may have one or two ridges that run from front to the back of the animal (a projection commonly called a "keel"), or such a feature may be absent. A prominent bridge often connects the top shell to the bottom shell (plastron).
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Greatcoats were French grey with purple collars (and were still in use after mobilisation in 1914), and the service breeches also carried purple stripes. The cap badge was the Coat of arms of the City of London in a laurel wreath surmounted by a crown. The collar badge was a spur carrying the initials 'R.R.' When it joined the TF in 1908 the regiment adopted a Lancer style full dress and walking-out uniform in French grey, with the plastron front and overall stripes in purple.
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The fingers are webbed one-third of their length, while the toes bear rudimentary webbing only. The tail is rather short and becomes very narrow behind the cloaca in males; it is a mere stub in females. The carapace of the type specimen was dark bronze; the plastron yellowish with two dark blotches on either side of the bridge. The jaws and upper front part of the head are bright yellow in the living animal, with a red spot on the top of the snout.
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The skin of the western chicken turtle is olive to brown with yellow lines extending from the head across the neck, from the shoulder to the feet and vertically on the rump. The long narrow head comes to a point at the beak, which is neither hooked nor notched. The western chicken turtle received its common name from its long head and neck, which tends to be as long as the plastron. This species also exhibits sexual dimorphism with the female being larger than males.
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While this specimen hails from the same locality, it was actually procured by the museum eight years prior, in 1993. A fragmentary third specimen was identified in 2007 as belonging to C. placidoi. The specimen, MN-6760-V, consisted of a rather complete fossilized carapace and plastron measuring some 20 cm long. The species was identified as a pleurodire based on a number of distinguishing anatomical characteristics – mainly the arrangement of skeletal elements in its skull and the attachment of its pelvic girdle to its carapace.
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The Yunnan box turtle (Cuora yunnanensis) is a species of turtle in the family Geoemydidae (formerly Bataguridae). It is believed to be endemic to Yunnan, China (in Kunming and Huize) and was suspected to be extinct since the early 20th century; the last verified specimen was collected in 1940.Blanck, 2005, Blanck et al. 2006 Plastron of a female Yunnan box turtle In 2004, a living female appeared from the pet trade in Kunming; one year later, a male from the same source and again one year later another female were found there.
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The yellow pond turtle (Mauremys mutica), is a medium-sized (to 19.5 cm), semi-aquatic turtle in the family Geoemydidae. This species has a characteristic broad yellow stripe extending behind the eye and down the neck; the carapace ranges in color from grayish brown to brown and the plastron is yellow or orange with black blotches along the outer edges. It is found in East Asia, ranging from central Vietnam, north through the coastal provinces of south and central China. Additional insular populations are found in Taiwan, Hainan, Ryukyu Islands, and Japan.
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The anterior bridge strut and posterior bridge strut are part of the plastron, on the carapace are the sutures into which they insert, known as the Bridge carapace suture. The bones of the shell are named for standard vertebrate elements. As such the carapace is made up of 8 pleurals on each side, these are a combination of the ribs and fused dermal bone. Outside of this at the anterior of the shell is the single nuchal bone, a series of 12 paired periphals then extend along each side.
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Aquatic chelonii shed individual scutes. The scute effectively forms the skin over the underlying bony structures; there is a very thin layer of subcutaneous tissue between the scute and the skeleton. The scutes can be brightly colored in some species, but the basal color is a grey to dark brown color dorsally; the plastral scutes are often white to yellow in base color. Moustakas-Verho and Cherepanov's embryological study reveals that the patterning of the plastral scutes appear independent from the patterning of carapacial scutes, suggesting that the carapace and plastron evolved separately.
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In septicemic cutaneous ulcerative disease (SCUD) or "shell rot", originally described by Kaplan (1957), ulcers of the shell may be superficial or deep. Ulcers may be seen on both the shell and legs. The disease is known to be caused by a variety of bacteria or fungi entering through some sort of abrasion, combined with poor animal husbandry. The disease is identified by its progression and what starts as ulcerative lesions of the plastron leads to a septicemic infection causing the degradation of the liver and other organs.
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C. rossignonii has a big head, lengthy tail, pointed snout, and a coarse carapace with three easily seen ridges. Its carapace comes in different colors, such as brown to olive or olive to black, while its small plastron can be either cream to yellow or tan to gray. This turtle's shell sometimes also has algae growing on it, which helps it to camouflage. The skin is either gray or black all over on adults, while juveniles have white speckles on their skin; the skin is also covered in long tubercles near the turtle's neck area.
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The three Aldabra- Seychelles giant tortoise subspecies can be distinguished based on carapace shape, but many captive animals may have distorted carapaces, so they may be difficult to identify. Arnold's giant tortoise is flattened, smooth, and with a relatively high opening to the shell; it is usually black. This subspecies usually has a depression on the suture between the first and second costal scutes, this may be a shallow depression or a distinctive pit. The plastron is less variable than the carapace and usually provides a good indication of the subspecies.
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Throughout its history under the Russian Empire, the regiment wore the standard uniform of the Infantry of the Imperial Guard, which from 1683 to 1914 was predominantly of a dark green (eventually verging on black) colour. The main distinctions of the Izmaylovsky Regiment were the red facings (plastron, cuffs and shoulder straps) edged in white piping. Collars were of the same dark green as the tunic; piped in red and worn with distinctive regimental patterns of braid (litzen). In addition, the tsar's monogram appeared on the soldiers' shoulder straps and officers' epaulettes.
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Based on a 1988 study of a population near Rancho Nuevo in Tamaulipas, Mexico, the males of K. herrerai attain a larger size than females, with a proportionally smaller plastron, and narrower and shallower carapace. Symbionts reported include a balanomorph barnacle, leeches of the genus Phcobdelta, and the filamentous green alga Basichdia. The food items identified indicate an omnivorous diet, with wild figs the major plant component, and several insect orders and millipedes represented. Courtship in K. herrerai agrees in most respects with courtship of other kinosternid species.
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He commanded a subdivision of the department of Aisne with the subsidiary role of secretary of the War Council and in 1878, he was put in military command of the department of Seine-et-Oise. He was promoted to divisional general on March 4, 1879. An injury that he received during the war obliged him to wear a large silver plastron over his abdomen. He was advised to retire, but replied that since he could still sit on a horse, he was still as useful on the battlefield as any other soldier.
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Tortoises share a mutualistic relationship with some species of Galápagos finch and mockingbirds. The birds benefit from the food source and the tortoises get rid of irritating ectoparasites. Small groups of finches initiate the process by hopping on the ground in an exaggerated fashion facing the tortoise. The tortoise signals it is ready by rising up and extending its neck and legs, enabling the birds to reach otherwise inaccessible spots on the tortoise's body such as the neck, rear legs, cloacal opening, and skin between plastron and carapace.
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The khaki Service Dress tunic adopted for the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) in 1912 had a wide cloth panel (a plastron) across the chest with concealed buttons, since it was thought that the usual button arrangement would be liable to catch on the bracing wires used on aircraft at that time. This tunic was popularly known as the "maternity jacket". The Naval Wing of the RFC, later the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS), wore naval uniform. (Chapter 3) On 1 April 1918, the RFC and RNAS merged to form the Royal Air Force (RAF).
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The sex identification is only possible when adult, at 5 or 6 years. The female is bigger and may reach in length and has the bottom of the shell (plastron) slightly convex so as to provide more space for eggs. The male reaches to and has a longer and bulky tail, furthermore, the male bottom of the shell is straight or slightly concave to fit better upon females. The male's cloaca is located 2/3 the distance between the tail beginning and the shell, while the female is very close to the shell.
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In addition, the gill tract of eurypterids is proportionally much too small to support them if it is analogous to the gills of other groups. To be functional gills, they would have to have been highly efficient and would have required a highly efficient circulatory system. It is considered unlikely, however, that these factors would be enough to explain the large discrepancy between gill tract size and body size. It has been suggested instead that the "gill tract" was an organ for breathing air, perhaps actually being a lung, plastron or a pseudotrachea.
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Also, the scapulae of the examined specimens were identified to lack acromion processes. Taken together, these anatomical differences have been interpreted by the discoverers to mean that Odontochelys has some of the most primitive features ever seen in a turtle and is somewhat of a transitional fossil. Evidence that the plastron evolved before the carapace, as indicated by the lack of carapace in Odontochelys semitestacea, is often viewed as an indication of the aquatic origin of turtles. The fossil was found in marine deposits, further supporting that the primitive turtle frequented shallow marine water.
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Desmatochelys was a large sea turtle, with some specimens reaching up to 2 meters long. Members of the genus are characterized by the extended skull roof, large nasal bones, and a paddle-like humerus, as well as a distinct body shell or carapace and reduced plastron like other protostegids. Desmatochelys padillai Specimens of Desmatochelys have been found in Nebraska, South Dakota, Kansas, Arizona, Canada, Colombia, and Mexico. They are known to have existed along the Western Interior Seaway during the Late Cretaceous, and their range may have extended to the Pacific coast.
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The African mud turtles range from being small in size, only carapace length for adult Pelusios nanus, to moderately large, for adult Pelusios sinuatus, while the large majority of species fall between carapace length. The carapaces are oblong, moderately high-domed, and the plastrons are large and hinged which is what distinguishes them from the Pelomedusa. The plastron contains a mesoplastron and also well-developed plastral buttresses that articulate with the costals on each side of the carapace. The carapace has 11 pairs of sutured peripherals around its margin and a neck without costiform processes.
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Hatchlings have wide head and neck stripes and yellow plastrons with large, dark spots. The common name of the species refers to the color of the bridge (the area where the plastron and the carapace meet), which is predominantly yellow with black stripes or entirely black. C. atripons is morphologically almost indistinguishable from C. pulchristiata, the eastern black-bridged leaf turtle.Fritz, U., Guicking, D., Auer, M., Sommer, R. S., Wink, M. and Hundsdörfer, A. K. (2008), Diversity of the Southeast Asian leaf turtle genus Cyclemys: how many leaves on its tree of life?.
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The width of the plastron bridge is less than the length of the hind lobe; the longest median suture is between the abdominal scute, the shortest between the gular scute. The axillary and inguinal scutes are very small; one of the latter is even absent. Cane turtle in the Anaimalai Hills Its head is rather large, with a truncated snout as long as the sizeable orbit; the upper jaw is hooked, with small premaxillae. The mandibular symphysis is very long, exceeding the maximum diameter of the orbit in width.
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Carapace olive, that of young with some black spots, especially on the posterior edge of the first three vertebrals; an orange vertebral band and a narrow yellow margin; carapace more uniform in the adult; plastron orange or red, with black spots, or brown with a yellowish anterior and lateral border to each shield, in one specimen uniform yellow. Head blackish; jaws and sides of crown orange; neck with numerous yellow lines on a blackish ground; limbs dark olive, spotted with yellow. Length of shell up to nearly 9 inches.Boulenger, G. A. 1890.
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Oracle bones () are pieces of ox scapula or turtle plastron, which were used for pyromancy – a form of divination – in ancient China, mainly during the late Shang dynasty. Scapulimancy is the correct term if ox scapulae were used for the divination, plastromancy if turtle plastrons were used. Diviners would submit questions to deities regarding future weather, crop planting, the fortunes of members of the royal family, military endeavors, and other similar topics. These questions were carved onto the bone or shell in oracle bone script using a sharp tool.
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Even this was ornamented by the addition of a detachable scarlet plastron and facings for parade, together with green feather plumes on the slouch hats. In 1912 a compromise dark blue full dress of simple design was adopted,R.G. Harris, colour plate 25 and text, "50 Years of Yeomanry Uniforms", Frederick Muller Ltd 1972, SBN 584 10937 7 while the standard khaki service dress of British mounted troops was worn for training and ordinary duties. Surrey & Sussex Yeomanry remembered at the Field of Remembrance, Westminster Abbey, November 2009.
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A distinguishing characteristic of the genus is the secondary division of the abdominal scutes (the middle pair of scutes in the plastron) due to the development of the plastral hinge as the turtle matures. It eventually leads to the formation of small triangular additional scutes between the abdominal and pectoral scutes. Cyclemys turtles are cryptodires, having the ability to pull their heads straight back and vertically into their shells instead of folding them sideways like pleurodires. The head varies between species from dull to striped with bright red or orange bands of color.
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A pair of radiated tortoises mating Males first mate upon attaining lengths of about 12 in (31 cm); females may need to be a few inches longer. The male begins this fairly noisy procedure by bobbing his head and smelling the female's hind legs and cloaca. In some cases, the male may lift the female up with the front edge of his shell to keep her from moving away. The male then proceeds to mount the female from the rear while striking the anal region of his plastron against the female's carapace.
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Typical coloration for hatchlings is grey above with bright cream and black below. The colour of adults varies with differing swamp conditions, and varies from medium yellow-brown in clay swamps to almost black with a maroon tinge in the black coffee-coloured water of sandy swamps. Plastron colour is variable, from yellow to brown or occasionally black; often there are black spots on a yellow background with black edges to the scutes. The legs are short and covered in scale-like scutes and the feet have well-developed claws.
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The several units that made up the Sussex Troops of Gentlemen and Yeomanry in 1794, favoured light cavalry helmets with feather plumes, short dark green jackets with black facings and white breeches. The Arundel and Bramber Troop raised in 1831 followed contemporary Light Dragoon fashion with bell-topped shakos, light blue jackets with red facings and plastron, plus white breeches.Barlow & Smith, pp.2-5. The newly formed Regiment of Sussex Imperial Yeomanry of 1901 wore khaki for both full and service dress, but in both orders with "Dublin Fusiliers Blue" (a bright shade) for cuffs, collars and trouser stripes.
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The sacral ribs were stout and short, since they formed part of the pelvis, connecting the backbone to the hip bones. In most subsequent forms, many of these early ribs have been lost, and in living amphibians and reptiles, there is great variation in rib structure and number. For example, turtles have only eight pairs of ribs, which are developed into a bony or cartilaginous carapace and plastron, while snakes have numerous ribs running along the full length of their trunk. Frogs typically have no ribs, aside from a sacral pair, which form part of the pelvis.
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The carapace of C. chilensis can measure up to 43.3 cm (but usually less than 25 cm) in a straight line, and may be either totally yellowish brown or have dark-brown to black rings surrounding a tan center on each scute. Specimens found farther south tend to be much larger than those found in farther north populations. The rim of the shell is slightly serrated and has a dark wedge of pigment at the back edge of each scute. The plastron may be uniformly yellowish-brown or have a dark triangular wedge along the seams of each scute.
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The tomb was originally a monumental temple at Golyama Kosmatka Mound, built in the second half of the 5th century BC. After extended use as a temple, at the later part of the 3rd century BC, Seuthes lll was buried inside. The sarcophagus-chamber contained personal belongings that were necessary for the afterlife of the King. It includes knee pads, a gilded helmet with images, leather armour with a collar (plastron made of golden threads), a large sword and spears. There are bronze vessels, and three big ceramic amphora which were filled with thick Thracian wine.
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These patterns and colors in the skin and shell fade with age until the carapace is a muted olive green to orange brown or brown and the plastron is a dull yellow or darker. Some sliders become almost black with few visible markings. The carapace is oval with a bit of rounding and a central crest with knobs, but these features soften and fade with age, adults being smoother and flatter. For determining an adult slider's sex, males typically have much longer front claws than adult females, while females usually have shorter, more slender tails than males.
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The underside, also called the plastron, has a much lighter coloration of a pale yellow. The flatback sea turtle has an average carapace length ranging from 76 to 96 cm (30 to 38 in), and weighs from 70 to 90 kg (about 155 to 200 lb). The females of this species are larger than the males in adulthood and also have been found to have longer tails than their male counterparts. Features of this sea turtle which help contribute to its recognition are the single pair of prefrontal scales on the head, and the four pairs of coastal scutes on the carapace.
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Danish soldier with Czapka At the end of the Napoleonic Wars the czapka continued to be worn by uhlans in Germany and Austria, as well as in France by Line-Regiment Lancers and later the Imperial Guard of Napoleon III. Lancer regiments in the British Army continued to wear czapki (described as "lance caps") for full dress until 1939para. 494 "Dress Regulations for the Army, 1934" and the modern Royal Lancers still retains this historic headdress for its Lancer Honour Guard. Along with the traditional double-breasted plastron-fronted lancer jacket, it is also still worn by the band of the Royal Yeomanry.
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For the Chinese, the tortoise is sacred and symbolizes longevity, power, and tenacity. It is said that the tortoise helped Pangu (also known as P'an Ku) create the world: the creator goddess Nuwa or Nugua cuts the legs off a sea turtle and uses them to prop up the sky after Gong Gong destroys the mountain that had supported the sky. The flat plastron and domed carapace of a turtle parallel the ancient Chinese idea of a flat earth and domed sky.Allan, Sarah, 1991, The Shape of the Turtle: Myth, Art, and Cosmos in Early China, SUNY Press, .
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Oracle bones were first recognised for their true nature in 1898, and scholars have been labouring to decipher them ever since. They circulated among collectors and antique dealers, and to this day some 200,000 oracle bone fragments from the Xiaotun site in Anyang have been counted. These inscriptions record the pyromantic divinations performed at the court of the Shang kings. The king or his diviners would address an oral "charge" to a specially prepared turtle plastron or cattle scapula while applying a hot poker or brand to produce a series of heat cracks in the shell or bone.
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Proganochelys possess a few chelonian synapomorphies including: a bony shell containing fused ribs, neural bones with fused thoracic segments, and a carapace and plastron that enclose the pelvic and shoulder girdle. Proganochelys was also known for its autapomorphy features which included a tail club and a tubercle on the basioccipital. The tail of Proganochelys was noticeably long and is hypothesized to have been used as a club for protection against predators. Although evolution of the shell has been clearly defined, the mechanisms behind the movement of the neck has been a subject of debate for Proganochelys.
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The peninsula cooter is an average sized member of the family Emydidae, typically reaching carapace lengths of 9-13 in (23-33 cm) and weights of 5-15 lbs (2.27-6.8 kg). However, they are capable of surpassing 20.0 in (50.8 cm) and 35 pounds (15.876 kg). Peninsula cooters can be identified be distinguished from the Florida red-bellied cooter (Pseudemys nelsoni) by their lack of a reddish plastron and the presence of dozens of yellow stripes on their carapace, limbs, head, and tail. Males can be distinguished from females by not only their smaller size, but their greatly elongated front claws.
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Throughout its history under the Russian Empire, the regiment wore the standard uniform of the Infantry of the Imperial Guard, which from 1683 to 1914 was predominantly of a dark green (eventually verging on black) colour. The main distinctions of the Moscow Guards Regiment were the all-red facings (plastron, collar, cuffs and shoulder straps). On the collars were worn distinctive regimental patterns of braid (litzen) in gold or yellow braid. In 1912, in recognition of its service during the Russo-Tukish War, officers of the regiment were authorised to wear a large metal gorget of a design dating from 1808.
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Elseya branderhorsti is a large river turtle that can be most readily distinguished from Elseya rhodini, with which it is sympatric, by the absence of a cervical scute; a prominent head shield that does not extend down the parietal arch to the tympanum; and by the presence of a distinctive alveolar ridge. As an adult it has a very large, broadly oval shell, often greater than 400 mm (16 inches), that is dark brown to black on the carapace and cream on the plastron. The iris is indistinct giving it the appearance of no distinctive features in the eye, often referred to as "liquid" eyes.
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First the lace was removed from the jacket and the sash and sabretache abandoned, before the jacket was replaced by a Lancer pattern tunic with half-plastron front in 1863. The tunic had no facings but was outlined in thin silver/white lace with simple Austrian knots on the sleeve. The light blue overalls were replaced by one in 'Oxford mixture' (blue-black) with double silver/white stripes. In 1862 the shako was replaced by a Bearskin fur cap similar to a Fusilier cap rather than a Hussar Busby, with a short white plume supported on the left side by a silver rose mounted on a gilt half-ball.
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All these scutes are aligned so that for the most part the sutures between the bones are in the middle of the scutes above. At the anterior of the shell there may be a cervical scute (sometimes incorrectly called a nuchal scute) however the presence or absence of this scute is highly variable, even within species. On the plastron there are two gular scutes at the front, followed by a pair of pectorals, then abdominals, femorals and lastly anals. A particular variation is the Pleurodiran turtles have an intergular scute between the gulars at the front, giving them a total of 13 plastral scutes.
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Facts about traditional Chinese medicine (TCM): rhinoceros horn, Encyclopædia Britannica, Facts about traditional Chinese medicine (TCM): rhinoceros horn, as discussed in rhinoceros (mammal): – Britannica Online Encyclopedia Poachers supply the black market with such substances, and the black market in rhinoceros horn, for example, has reduced the world's rhino population by more than 90 percent over the past 40 years."Rhino horn: All myth, no medicine", National Geographic, Rhishja Larson Concerns have also arisen over the use of turtle plastron and seahorses. TCM recognizes bear bile as a medicinal. In 1988, the Chinese Ministry of Health started controlling bile production, which previously used bears killed before winter.
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The female makes a muddy plug for the nest hole out of soil mixed with urine, seals the nest by pressing down firmly with her plastron, and leaves them to be incubated by the sun. Females may lay one to four clutches per season. Temperature plays a role in the sex of the hatchlings, with lower-temperature nests producing more males and higher-temperature nests producing more females. This is related closely to incubation time, since clutches laid early incubate during the cool season and have longer incubation periods (producing more males), while eggs laid later incubate for a shorter period in the hot season (producing more females).
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Preobrazhnesky Barracks in St. Petersburg Throughout its history the regiment wore the standard uniform of the Infantry of the Imperial Guard, which from 1683 to 1914 was predominantly of a dark green (eventually verging on black) colour. The main distinctions of the Preobrazhensky Regiment were the red facings (plastron, collar, cuffs and shoulder straps) edged in white piping. Distinctive regimental patterns of braid (litzen) were worn on the tunic collar, plus the tsar's monogram on the soldiers' shoulder straps and officers' epaulettes. Following the Russo-Turkish War, the regiment was awarded a small bronze scroll to be worn as a battle-honour on shakos and other headdresses.
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Other types of insects have a plastron or physical gill that can be various combinations of hairs, scales, and undulations projecting from the cuticle, which hold a thin layer of air along the outer surface of the body. In these insects, the volume of the film is small enough, and their respiration slow enough, that diffusion from the surrounding water is enough to replenish the oxygen in the pocket of air as fast as it is used. The large proportion of nitrogen in the air dissolves in water slowly and maintains the gas volume, supporting oxygen diffusion. Insects of this type only rarely need to replenish their supply of air.
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Ectomesenchyme (also known as mesectoderm):Kalcheim, C. and Le Douarin, N. M. (1998). The Neural Crest (2nd ed.). Cambridge, U. K.: Cambridge University Press. odontoblasts, dental papillae, the chondrocranium (nasal capsule, Meckel's cartilage, scleral ossicles, quadrate, articular, hyoid and columella), tracheal and laryngeal cartilage, the dermatocranium (membranous bones), dorsal fins and the turtle plastron (lower vertebrates), pericytes and smooth muscle of branchial arteries and veins, tendons of ocular and masticatory muscles, connective tissue of head and neck glands (pituitary, salivary, lachrymal, thymus, thyroid) dermis and adipose tissue of calvaria, ventral neck and face Endocrine cells: chromaffin cells of the adrenal medulla, glomus cells type I/II.
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When first formed no official uniform was available and Staff Corps members instead wore a red scarf tied around their right shoulder as a distinguishing mark. It had originally been proposed that the corps should wear the uniform of the Royal Staff Corps (a similarly organised engineering unit) but with bearskin hats, a feature that would make them easily distinguishable from line cavalry. However the corps was eventually issued its own unique uniform. The jackets were red – similar to those worn by the Dragoon Guards; whilst the plastron (blue), girdle (striped) and overalls (with double stripes on the legs) were similar to those worn by Light Dragoons.
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Red-eared sliders are an example of a fully aquatic species in which the male performs a courtship behavior. In this case the male extends his forelegs with the palms facing out and flutters his forelegs in the female's face. Female choice is important in this method, and the females of some species, such as green sea turtles, are not always receptive. As such, they have evolved certain behaviors to avoid the male's attempts at copulation, such as swimming away, confronting the male followed by biting, or a refusal position in which the female assumes a vertical position with her limbs widely outspread and her plastron facing the male.
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The farm also releases specimens to the wild as part of an effort to repopulate the Caribbean Sea. Fat from turtles is also used in the Caribbean and in Mexico as a main ingredient in cosmetics, marketed under its Spanish name crema de tortuga. Turtle plastrons (the part of the shell that covers a tortoise on the bottom) are widely used in traditional Chinese medicine; according to statistics, Taiwan imports hundreds of tons of plastrons every year. A popular medicinal preparation based on powdered turtle plastron (and a variety of herbs) is the guilinggao jelly; more recently, though, it is typically made with only herbal ingredients.
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The spotted softshell turtle (Pelodiscus variegatus) is a species of turtle in the family Trionychidae. It is found in Indochina, where it is largely restricted to most of Vietnam; however, an isolated population is also known from Hainan Island, where it is sympatric with the related lesser Chinese softshell turtle (P. parviformis). Aside from genetic differences, this species can be most readily distinguished from other Pelodiscus by the large blotches on its plastron, which also gave it its name. Due to its restricted geographic range and the heavy level of exploitation it receives, it has been proposed that this species be classified as Critically Endangered under the IUCN Red List.
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Throughout its history under the Russian Empire, the regiment wore the standard uniform of the Infantry of the Imperial Guard, which from 1683 to 1914 was predominantly of a dark green (eventually verging on black) colour. The main distinctions of the Semyonovsky Regiment were the red facings (plastron, cuffs and shoulder straps) edged in white piping. Tunic collar colours were of a light to medium blue, worn with distinctive regimental patterns of braid (litzen). In addition, the tsar's monogram appeared on the soldiers' shoulder straps and officers' epaulettes. In 1910, in recogition of its distinguished record, officers of the regiment were authorised to wear a large metal gorget inscribed "In memory of Narva 1683-1850-1883".
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By contrast, sexually mature females possess a flat plastron and have a tail notable shorter and thinner than mature males. Mature males also have a dark iris and face; females typically have a yellow or orange iris and a similarly coloured face that is distinctly lighter than males. Juveniles appear female-like in this regard and at maturity males begin to develop darker features. Spotted turtles are aquatic omnivores that inhabit a variety of semi-aquatic or in other words, shallow, fresh-water areas such as flooded forests, marshes, wet meadows, bogs and woodland streams in southern Canada (Ontario) and the eastern US: the eastern Great Lakes and east of the Appalachian Mountains.
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Recent breakthroughs in stem-turtle fossil records contribute to the study of the evolution of the turtle's shell. The first piece of fossil record discovered, essential for building the evolution and development model, was Germany and Thailand's 214-million-year-old Late Triassic reptile Proganochelys, which marked as the first point of full shell development and carapace ossification in Testudines. The following phenomenal discovery of China's 220-million-year-old stem turtle, predating the Proganonchelys by 6 million years, the Odontochelys semitestacea fossil in China shed light on the intermediate stages of turtle carapace evolution by exhibiting a partially formed dorsal carapace. One major discovery was that O. semitestacea provided documentation that the plastron evolved before the carapace structure.
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During its comparatively short history (1901-1920) the Lincolnshire Yeomanry was noted for the Lincoln green of its uniforms - a lighter shade than the sombre rifle green widely worn in the British Army. The original uniform of the regiment was the newly introduced khaki serge but with collars, shoulder-straps, and cuff-piping in Lincoln-green. For reasons of recruitment and morale this relatively plain dress was eventually replaced with elaborate lancer style full dress (including white plastron fronts and plumed czapka caps) for the officers.R.G. Harris, colour plate 11 and text, "50 Years of Yeomanry Uniforms", Frederick Muller Ltd 1972, Other ranks wore Lincoln-green "frock" tunics with peaked caps, shoulder chains and double white stripes on their overalls (cavalry trousers strapped under the boots).
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The authors said that this would extend the range in time and space for the genus Thalassodromeus considerably, creating a 42-million-year gap between the older South American species and the younger European species. Palaeontologist Gareth J. Dyke and a large team of colleagues immediately rejected the pterosaurian identification of the T. sebesensis fossil, instead arguing that it was a misidentified part of a plastron (lower shell) of the prehistoric turtle Kallokibotion bajazidi (named in 1923). The idea that the fragment belonged to a turtle had been considered and rejected by Grellet-Tinnera and Codrea in their original description. Grellet-Tinnera and Codrea denied the turtle identity suggested by Dyke and colleagues, noting that those researchers had not directly examined the fossil.
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As of December 2015, Jonathan was reported to be "alive and well [...] He's blind from cataracts, has lost his sense of smell, and so cannot detect food (his fellow giants mug me and can detect the tiniest morsel dropped on the ground), but he has retained excellent hearing." In January 2016, the BBC reported that Jonathan was given a new diet intended to keep him healthy and extend his life. The sex of Frederika, one of two of his favorite tortoises thought to be female (the other being Emily), was cast into doubt in 2017 when island veterinarian Catherine Man indicated that due to a shell deformity, her plastron could not be verified. Frederika has since been declared to be male.
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In terms of military uniforms, the kurtka was a type of close fitting double breasted jacket, cut to the waist and often worn with a plastron, a contrasting-coloured panel of cloth covering the chest. It was worn by lancers and uhlans, a type of light cavalry which had its origins in the Lipka Tatars who served the kings of Poland, but were widely copied by the armies of many western nations from the start of the 19th century along with their distinctive style of dress. The lancer's kurtka developed from a jacket called a kontusz, which during the late 18th century became shortened into the kurtka.Rospond, Vincent W. (2013), Polish Armies of the Partitions 1770–94, Osprey Publishing, (p.
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The plates comprising the carapace and plastron were already in the modern form, although there were additional plates along the margins of the shell that would have served to protect the legs. Also unlike any modern species of turtle, its long tail had spikes and terminated in a club, its head could not be retracted under the shell and its neck may have been protected by small spines. While it had no teeth in its jaws, it did have small denticles on the palate. The beak like structure suggests that the Triassic stem-turtles evolved from carnivorous stem-turtles to herbivorous as the loss of teeth and gain of the beak would benefit the crushing of plants in these stem-turtles.
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Prussian Guard Uhlans about 1912 In 1914, the Imperial German Army included 26 Uhlan regiments, three of which were Guard regiments, 21 line (16 Prussian, two Württemberg and three Saxon) and two from the autonomous Royal Bavarian Army. All German Uhlan regiments wore Polish style czapkas and tunics with plastron fronts, both in coloured parade uniforms and the field grey service dress introduced in 1910. Because German hussar, dragoon and cuirassier regiments also carried lances in 1914, there was a tendency among their French and British opponents to describe all German cavalry as "uhlans". The lance carried by the uhlans (and after 1889 the entire German cavalry branch) consisted of a 318 cm (ten-foot and five-inch) long tube made of rolled steel-plate, weighing 1.6 kg (three pound and nine ounces).
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During the early days of the franchise, each of the four turtles received their own one-shot (or "micro-series"), plus a one- shot featuring the Fugitoid. There was also a one-shot anthology, Turtle Soup, released in 1987, which led to a four-part series of the same name in 1991–92. The Turtles had a four-issue mini-series co-starring Flaming Carrot (the Turtles previously guest-starred in issues #25–27 of the Carrot's own Dark Horse-published series), and the Fugitoid teamed up with Mirage regular Michael Dooney's creator-owned character Gizmo for a two-issue limited series. Kevin Eastman and Rick Veitch created a story starring Casey Jones, which was initially serialized in the four issue anthology series Plastron Cafe, and later colorized and released with a previously unseen conclusion in the two- part Casey Jones mini-series.
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Polish uhlans from the Army of the Duchy of Warsaw 1807–1815 January Suchodolski painting Prussian uhlans in pre-1914 uniform Imperial Guard in the Battle of Peterswalde – Juliusz Kossak Polish uhlans of the Kościuszko Uprising in 1794 – Walery Eljasz-Radzikowski Lancers of the Vistula Legion on patrol in Spain during the Peninsular War by Juliusz Kossak, 1875 Uhlans (; Polish: Ułan; German: Ulan ; Lithuanian: Ulonas) were Polish-Lithuanian light cavalry units armed with lances, sabres and pistols. The Polish uhlans became the model for many general-purpose cavalry units throughout Europe in the early 19th century as use of traditional heavy cavalry declined. The title was later used by lancer regiments in French, Russian, Prussian, Saxon, Austrian and other armies. Uhlans typically wore a double-breasted jacket (kurtka) with a coloured panel (plastron) at the front, a coloured sash, and a square-topped Polish lancer cap (rogatywka, also called czapka).
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The original uniform of the Frome Troop was a light cavalry (Tarleton) helmet, a blue jacket with buff collar (and probably cuffs), and buff breeches. When the troop reformed in 1803 the helmet was retained, with a white feather Hackle, but the jacket was changed to scarlet with black facings and white breeches. By 1820 the regiment had adopted a uniform that conformed with the Regular Light Dragoons: the old Tarleton helmet was retained, but the short jacket or coatee was now blue with red facings and wide lapels forming a 'plastron' front, and the trousers were French Grey with a single red stripe. In 1842 a black Light Dragoon Shako replaced the helmet, but some time between 1851 and 1854 the regiment adopted a Heavy Dragoon helmet in white metal with a drooping black plume, possibly because the regimental adjutant at the time, Capt Francis Haviland, was a former officer in the 2nd Dragoon Guards (Queen's Bays).
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The many gods are often defined as "traces" ( jī) of coalescence of the qi. Xuánwǔ, the motif of the snake winding the turtle. While the snake, as the dragon, represents qi, the primordial power of the universe and the constellation Draco at the north ecliptic pole; the turtle represents the cosmos, with "the round carapace representing the dome of the skies and the squarish plastron the squared earth". At the same time they represent two of the four constellations which perfectly enclose, in a square, the north ecliptic pole centred in Draco: Snake (drawn in Corona Borealis + northern stars of Herculs + northern stars of Boötes), Turtle (Cassiopeia), Sword (central stars of Cygnus) and the Big Dipper.. As explained by the scholar Stephan Feuchtwang, in Chinese cosmology "the universe creates itself out of a primary chaos of material energy" (hundun and qi ), organising as the polarity of yin and yang which characterises any thing and life.
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Tortoise plastron with divination inscription The oracle bones are mostly tortoise plastrons (ventral or belly shells, probably female) and ox scapulae (shoulder blades), although some are the carapace (dorsal or back shells) of tortoises, and a few are ox rib bones, scapulae of sheep, boars, horses and deer, and some other animal bones. The skulls of deer, oxen and humans have also been found with inscriptions on them, although these are very rare and appear to have been inscribed for record keeping or practice rather than for actual divination; in one case, inscribed deer antlers were reported, but Keightley (1978) reports that they are fake. Neolithic diviners in China had long been heating the bones of deer, sheep, pigs and cattle for similar purposes; evidence for this in Liaoning has been found dating to the late fourth millennium BCE. However, over time, the use of ox bones increased, and use of tortoise shells does not appear until early Shang culture.
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Lingzhi (lit. "spirit mushrooms"), ginseng, Luo Han Guo, turtle shell underbelly (plastron), and dried curled snakes China also developed a large body of traditional medicine. Much of the philosophy of traditional Chinese medicine derived from empirical observations of disease and illness by Taoist physicians and reflects the classical Chinese belief that individual human experiences express causative principles effective in the environment at all scales. These causative principles, whether material, essential, or mystical, correlate as the expression of the natural order of the universe. The foundational text of Chinese medicine is the Huangdi neijing, (or Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon), written 5th century to 3rd century BCE.Unschuld (2003), 1. Near the end of the 2nd century CE, during the Han dynasty, Zhang Zhongjing, wrote a Treatise on Cold Damage, which contains the earliest known reference to the Neijing Suwen. The Jin Dynasty practitioner and advocate of acupuncture and moxibustion, Huangfu Mi (215–282), also quotes the Yellow Emperor in his Jiayi jing, c. 265.
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All aquatic insects have become adapted to their environment with the specialization of these structures ;Aquatic adaptations # Simple diffusion over a relatively thin integument # Temporary use of an air bubble # Extraction of oxygen from water using a plastron or physical gill # Storage of oxygen in hemoglobin molecules in hemolymph # Taking oxygen from surface via breathing tubes (siphons) The larvae and nymphs of mayflies, dragonflies and stoneflies possess tracheae but when in larval stage the tracheae are connected to gills, which are very thin extensions of the exoskeleton through which oxygen in the water can diffuse. Some insects have densely packed hairs (setae) around the spiracles that allow air to remain near, while keeping water away from, the body. The trachea open through spiracles into this air film, allowing access to oxygen. In many such cases, when the insect dives into the water, it carries a layer of air over parts of its surface, and breathes using this trapped air bubble until it is depleted, then returns to the surface to repeat the process.
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Life restoration of Odontochelys semitestacea, the oldest known turtle relative with a partial shell "Chelonia" from Ernst Haeckel's Kunstformen der Natur, 1904 Based on body fossils, the first proto-turtles are believed to have existed in the late Triassic Period of the Mesozoic era, about 220 million years ago, and their shell, which has remained a remarkably stable body plan, is thought to have evolved from bony extensions of their backbones and broad ribs that expanded and grew together to form a complete shell that offered protection at every stage of its evolution, even when the bony component of the shell was not complete. This is supported by fossils of the freshwater Odontochelys semitestacea or "half-shelled turtle with teeth", from the late Triassic, which have been found near Guangling in southwest China. Odontochelys displays a complete bony plastron and an incomplete carapace, similar to an early stage of turtle embryonic development. Prior to this discovery, the earliest-known fossil turtle ancestors, like Proganochelys, were terrestrial and had a complete shell, offering no clue to the evolution of this remarkable anatomical feature.
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Carapace elevated, tectiform, the keel ;ending in a nodosity on the third vertebral shield; posterior margin not or but very slightly serrated; nuchal shield small, square or trapezoidal; first vertebral very variable in shape, usually with straight lateral borders diverging forwards in the half-grown specimens, narrower in front and with sinuous lateral borders in the adult; second vertebral as long as or a little longer than second, frequently obtusely pointed behind; third vertebral pointed behind, in contact with the point of the very elongate fourth; fifth vertebral broader than the others. Plastron large, strongly angulated laterally in the young, truncate anteriorly, angularly notched posteriorly; proportions of plastral shields very variable; suture between gulars and humerals forming a right angle; axillary and inguinal large. Head moderate ; 6nout short, rather pointed and prominent; jaws with denticulated edge, upper not notched mesially; alveolar surface of upper jaw with the median ridge nearer the inner than the outer border; bony choanae between the orbits ; the width of the lower jaw at the symphysis is less than the diameter of the orbit. Fore limbs with large transverse scales.
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