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Testudines - An order of reptiles which comprises the turtles, terrapins, and tortoises.

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Lack of ear hole
Shells
Males are slightly bigger than females depending on species
Long and paddle like flippers
Head covered in hard scales
Color ranges from olive-green, yellow, greenish-brown, reddish-brown to black depending on species

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Tortoise- Desert and Fresh Water
Sea Turtle- Salt Water
Box Turtle- Mesic Habitat
Snapping Turtles- Freshwater
Asian Box Turtle- Asia
Trionychidae (soft shell)- Slow Moving Streams
Emydidae (pond turtles)- freshwater streams, ponds, rivers, lakes, Kinosternon- still or slow freshwater
Chelidae (side neck turtle)- Austro, South America
Turtles live all over the world, in many different habitats. Some including the tropical regions, major seas, lakes, ponds, rivers, forests, and deserts.

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Keratinised plates in place of teeth
Body enclosed in a shell that consists of carapace and plastron
Keen sense of smell
Good color vision
Poor hearing
Bury eggs in ground

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260 million years old

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Habitat- Found in many different countries found around the world, but particularly in the southern hemisphere where it is warmer.
Physical Characteristics- They have a hard outer shell for protection, but their legs, head, and belly have soft skin. Their shell can range from a few centimeters to a few meters. The tortoise is able to retract its limbs into the shell for protection. Different species vary in color, size, and diet.
Social- Most sleep during the night and wake up to hunt when the sun rises. Most are herbivorous diet, consisting of grass, leaves, weeds, leafy greens, and fruit. Their lifespan is typically similar to humans but some can live up to 150 years. Females dig nesting burrows to lay their eggs. she can lay anywhere between 1 and 30 eggs at a time, but the typical number is around 10, although only a few survive.

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Habitat- Temperate open woodlands, they prefer marshes, meadows, pastures, and they also always need to be around freshwater bodies of water like swamps, ponds, and streams. Typically in North America.
Physical Characteristics- Adult box turtles range from 4 to 7 inches, males have long thick tails located farther away from their shell, while females have short skinny tails located closer to their shell; like most turtles, their shell is a part of their exoskeleton.
Social- They are about 20 centimeters long, with the males being a little longer. Males usually have red eyes while females typically have yellowish-brown eyes. They prefer warmer weather but if it gets too hot they will hide under decaying and dry leaves or logs.

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Habitat- Most sea basins, nesting in tropical and subtropical beaches
Physical Characteristics- Characterized by large, streamlined shell; range from olive-green, yellow, greenish-brown, reddish-brown, or black; cannot pull head into shell;
Social- Although most are not social, they can congregate offshore, they also gather to mate; when they reach water after hatching, they are on their own; hawksbill tend to wedge themselves between corals and rest, flatbacks float and sleep, and olive ridleys tend to bask on shore

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Currently alive, also known as loggerhead sea turtle,  found in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian ocean.

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Early Lutetien age

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83.5 million years old, during the Cretaceous time period

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About 120 million years old

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Due to the fact that turtles have a long life span, little is known about evolution. They also have a lack of predators, so they can live without any need to change to avoid predators. The evolution that did happen was a lack of bones in the skull. The skull also became a more solid structure.

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These fossils show many things about evolution. They all vary in age and how well preserved they are. Most of these fossils are turtle shells, mainly because their shells preserve extremely well. These fossils show evidence of evolution because if researched deeper, information can be found about these species. Some are extinct, and some have evolved to better fit their habitat. Although turtles have not evolved much, they still are different from their ancestors.

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Homologous Structure- an example of an organ or bone that appears in different animals, underlining anatomical commonalities demonstrating descent from a common ancestor.
Homologous structures are bones and/or organs that are in different animals. They look the same but serve different purposes.

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Turtles, alligators, birds and horses all share a homologous structure. The turtle uses it for maneuvering its habitat. An alligator uses it for its legs to swim and walk. Birds use it as its wings to fly. And horses use it for its legs to run. As shown in the chart, all of these organisms have a common ancestor, an ancient, lobe-finned fish. Because the four organisms share homologous structures, we know that the likely came from the same ancestor.

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Embryology- Embryology is defined as the branch of biology and medicine that studies embryos and how they develop

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This phylogenetic tree shows the diversity of testudines. There are 24 different turtles on this tree, and they are all testudines that have many things in common, but many things also make them different. Things that make them different include geographic locations, their habitat, their diet, their anatomy, and their shell. For example, a chelonioidea (sea turtle) is different from a pelomedusidae (pond turtle or marsh turtle) in almost every way. A chelidae australasia and a chelida south america are very similar to each other, the only real difference is the habitat. The closer that the turtles are on the tree, the more similar that they are to each other.

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Some testudines have different types of ‘fins’ or ‘flippers’. Turtles that live on land typically have claws, while turtles in water have flippers. Claws help the turtles move around their environment and help get their food. Flippers help turtles sim faster and more efficiently. Microevolution is shown because this small change has evolved them to better fit their environment.

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Turtles typically don’t change habitats for that long, and when they do it's for migration. They also would not mate in unfamiliar areas.. They also typically mate with their same species. Drastic differences for mating are not seen (like a sea turtle and a tortoise) due to the very different habitats. The likely hood of two species mating together is very low.

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Box Turtle- Mating season starts in spring and continues through summer. Sometimes, they can mate with the same partners for a few years, other times they find a new mate every year, depending on availability

Sea Turtle- Mate during the warm months, they also do not mate for life, they will often fight with each other for a mate.

Tortoise- Tortoises mate during the spring and summer. They mate with many partners.

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Turtles are largely characterized by the bony or cartilaginous shell coming from their ribs. Often, this shell is used as protection.

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Common Name- Tortoise
Kingdom- Animal
Phylum- Chordata
Class- Reptile
Order- Turtle
Family- Testudinidae
Species- Testudinida

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Common Name- Box Turtle
Kingdom- Animal
Phylum- Chordate
Class- Reptile
Order- Turtle
Family- Emydidae
Species- Terrapenne

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Common Name- Sea Turtle
Kingdom- Animal
Phylum- Chordate
Class- Reptile
Order- Turtle
Family-
Species- Chelonioidea

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All 3 examples of turtles are in the same kingdom, phylum, class, and order. They are in different family, genus, and species. This is because as it gets more specific, they start to get more diverse. The kingdom for all three is animal. The phylum for all three is chordata. the class for all three is reptile. And lastly, for the order, all three are turtle. The family, genus, and species are different for all three.

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Gradual speciation is seen in testudines. Divergent evolution is also seen in testudines. Reproductive isolation happens between some species due to habit differences. Random and non-random mating depends on the species of turtle. Microevolution is seen a lot in the evolution of testudines.

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https://www.thoughtco.com/turtles-profile-130793

http://animals.jrank.org/pages/3536/Turtles-Tortoises-Testudines-PHYSICAL-CHARACTERISTICS.html

http://www.seeturtles.org/sea-turtle-facts/

https://seaworld.org/en/animal-info/animal-infobooks/sea-turtles/physical-characteristics

https://seaworld.org/en/animal-info/animal-infobooks/sea-turtles/behavior

http://animals.mom.me/box-turtle-habitat-nesting-areas-2704.html

http://animals.mom.me/box-turtle-habitat-nesting-areas-2704.html

http://www.welcomewildlife.com/all-about-box-turtles/

http://study.com/academy/lesson/box-turtle-facts-lesson-for-kids.html

https://a-z-animals.com/animals/tortoise/

http://creation.com/evidence-for-turtle-evolution

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/11/141124103225.htm

http://www.sparknotes.com/testprep/books/sat2/biology/chapter6section3.rhtml

https://www.google.com/amp/amp.livescience.com/52224-oldest-sea-turtle-fossil.html

http://www.crystalinks.com/fossilturtles.html

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwiaoOq0zojUAhVIwYMKHYfJD9wQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpalaeos.com%2Fvertebrates%2Fchelonii%2Fcentrocryptodira.html&psig=AFQjCNF0YnXwSAK7sRo7ZU4c-5fz8FLfyw&ust=1495718131589263

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/anapsids/testudines/testudinesmm.html