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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stylemys
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelydropsis
http://www.prehistoricstore.com/item.php?item=929
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caribemys
https://evolution-thewayitworks.weebly.com/natural-selection.html
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1584014
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17944856
https://infovisual.info/en/biology-animal/internal-anatomy-of-a-turtle
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/07/090709-turtles-shells-ribs.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Cenozoic_turtles
https://basicbiology.net/animal/reptiles/turtles/
https://seaworld.org/en/animal-info/animal-infobooks/sea-turtles/physical-characteristics
https://www.thoughtco.com/sea-turtles-profile-2291900
http://www.californiaherps.com/behavior/turtlelifehistory.html

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This phylogenic tree shows the evolution of the turtle. The tree shows the relationship between each organism and how much they adapted different characteristics and altered its body over time. The tree shows what animal all of the other turtles evolved from and what the common ancestor is.

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Majority of turtles are a tan, brown or dark green color. These colors were selected because they blend in with trees, ponds, dirt, sand etc. Turtles have gone through directional natural selection because the size and shape has changed over years. The more favorable trait was a smaller body and shell structure so that is what became more common.  Now comparing prehistoric turtles to present day ones, the present day ones bodies are a lot smaller. Another thing they have adapted is the ability to take in saltwater, release the salt and the water is converted to fresh water. This adaptation helps turtles be able to swim longer distances.

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Descent with modification is passing traits from parent to offspring. As turtles adapted into terrestrial animals and changed some of their features they passed them down to their offspring. All of the different kinds of turtles and different characteristics show the evolution that was through descent with modification

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Turtles digest food very slowly which is really beneficial to them. This happened just within the species of turtles and kind of quickly. Because of the food being digested slowly they receive extra nutrients and do not have to eat as often. Studies have shown that turtles only had the bottom of their shell and the top carapace was not present. Turtles evolved into a shelled animal over time. The shell is now the most prominent characteristic on the turtle. Adaptations resulted from environmental factors and because of predators of the turtle.

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Turtles are cold blooded which means their body doesn't control their body temperature. The outside environment controls the temperature of the animal. Turtles prefer to be in warmer water because they can not warm themselves up in cold water. If there are any turtles that have adapted to be in cold water, majority of turtles will not travel towards them because of the temperature. This barrier of temperature creates a reproductive isolation in the species. Because of the geographical temperature boundaries it affects the type of turtles being able to mate with each other. Also, terrestrial turtles have different claws than aquatic ones. Aquatic turtles have flippers and terrestrial ones have a claw type foot. This boundary affects different types of turtles from mating because aquatic turtles only come out of the water to lay eggs, not mate with terrestrial turtles.

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Turtles went through divergent evolution. Divergent evolution is the differences of groups creating a new species. There are two types of turtles, hard shelled and soft shelled. The soft shelled turtles don't have a flimsy shell it is leathery and thick, it just isn't as hard as carapace. The softer shelled turtles have a slightly different internal structure than than hard shelled turtles. The fusing of bones onto the shell is different with hard and soft shells. When classifying a turtle an easy classification that can be made is based off the hardness of their shells.

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Turtles speciation is gradual. Turtles have changed but they adapted and evolved very slowly over thousands of years. The first species of turtles didn't have a full shell. They only had half of the outline of a shell and over time they slowly started forming one. Over years their vertebrae and ribs started fusing together and to the shell. After a really long time the shell formed to its completeness. There hasn't been any huge fast changes in the turtle species. Over an extremely long period of time turtles tails also slightly shortened. The shortened tails don't really affect the turtles in any way and it was a very gradual change. The transition of turtles being aquatic changing into terrestrial was also a slow change.

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All turtles have very similar bone structures. They have all of the same vertebrae structure. Their ribs and vertebras are connected and fused to its shell. All turtles have a top shell made of carapace and a bottom shell called the plastron. The shells work as a protective barrier from predators and possible dangers they could come across. The function of their legs are to swim and to walk. Most turtles are very slow and awkward in land but very fast and comfortable in the water. Similarly to humans, turtles have a humerus, femur, fibula tibia, radius and a scapula. All turtles have a beak shaped head and a very strong jaw. Prehistoric turtles had teeth but preset day turtles do not. They have adapted a beak shaped head to break food and a strong jaw to do the same.

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In the early stages of the embryo in both kinds of turtles, they are very curved with very prominent eyes. The eyes start out very big until they grow into its body and it looks more normal. Both turtles begin with not a distinct shell and then it begins to develop more. The first turtles shell developed faster and the grooves and plates form quicker than the second turtles shell. The shells are very small compared to its head in early stages. The second turtles neck started to develop faster than the first one. The first turtles neck stays connected with its head and it isn not yet visible. Analyzing the embryology shows that these two turtles are very similar because of their stages of development. They have very similar stages and only have minor differences.

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Depending on the classification of the turtle, the amount of chromosomes varies greatly. There can be 22-66 chromosomes in a turtles but commonly there is 56, 54 or 52 . . The Loggerhead turtle has 56 chromosomes, the Snapping turtle has 42 chromosomes and the Desert tortoise has 52 chromosomes. Karyotyping allows all of the chromosomes in the organisms body to be visible and they are able to be studied. If there are any mutations or any problems with any chromosome, one can tell by looking at a karyotype. Turtles can have a lot more pairs of chromosomes than humans do. Humans only have 23 whereas, turtles can have up to 33 pairs. Humans just have XX or XY sex cells but turtles have more than that. Turtles have XX, XY, ZZ, or ZW. Z is a larger chromosome than X so it holds more genetic material so in this case the ovum predicts the sex and not sperm.

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Fossils can show evolution because it is visible evidence of change.  Fossils show adaptations and change the organism might have went through over many years.  Past turtles had much longer tails and a bigger body in comparison to its head and limbs. Extinct turtles had very long tails and now they are found to be short and stubby.  Because of their bigger body it was easier for them to drawl their head and neck back into its shell if it was frightened or intimidated.  Past turtles had half of a shell and it from an extension of their backbone and from a broad rib structure. It eventually evolved into a full shell that covered most of its body. Prehistoric turtles with full shells were also mostly terrestrial but they have evolved to aquatic also. This can be proved by looking at the lungs of turtles in fossils. All of the fossils have a beak shaped head, a shell, four limbs and a long tail. This shows that these body parts have always been present but they have evolved in a way over years.

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Age of fossil:  Jurassic period
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caribemys

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Age of fossil:  Recently extinct
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cylindraspis

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Age of fossil:  Oligocene and Pilocene time period
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelydropsis

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Age of fossil:  Oligocene
http://www.prehistoricstore.com/item.php?item=929

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Age of fossil:  late triassic
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odontochelys

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Age of fossil:  Paleogene and Neogene time periods
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stylemys

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The taxonomic classification can help determine the how related different organisms are. If organisms have the same names they have similar characteristics which means they are closely related.  Each level of taxonomy gets more and more specific so if organisms are in the same group as it gets more specific, they are very related. The taxonomic names for the Desert tortoise, loggerhead turtle and the snapping turtle prove that they are all pretty related but the Snapping turtle and the Loggerhead turtle are the most related. All three turtles have the same kingdom, phylum and order. The Loggerhead turtle and the Snapping turtle both have the class of reptile where the desert tortoise has the class of Sauropsida.

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Common Name-  Snapping turtle
Kingdom-  Animalia
Phylum-  Chordata
Class-  Reptilia
Order-  Testudines
Family-  Cryptodira
Genus-  Chelydra
Species-  Serpentina

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Common Name-  Loggerhead
Kingdom-  Animalia
Phylum-  Chordata
Class-  Reptilia
Order-  Testudines
Family-  Cheloniidae
Genus-  Caretta
Species-  C. Caretta

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Common Name-  Desert tortoise

Kingdom-  Animalia
Phylum-  Chordata
Class-  Sauropsida
Order-  Testudines
Family-  Testudinidae
Genus-  Gopherus
Species-  G. agassizii G. morafkai

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Snapping turtles live mostly in North America and they prefer muddy water with a lot of plants and organisms.  They can be found not close to lakes and water though. Snapping turtles like to spend most of their time in the water if possible.  The snapping turtle has a very long and flexible neck.  It is able to bend extremely far to capture prey. A big snapping turtle is around 16 inches long and weighs 35 pounds.  Their shells are considered smaller than some other types of turtles shells.  Snapping turtles can be very aggressive with human interaction.  Usually they aren’t very aggressive inside of water but outside of water they feel threatened and get defensive.  They are known to bite, scratch and snap at people.  They don’t prefer being outside in the sun because they lose moisture very quickly so they are more active in the night time.

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All turtles are cold blooded organisms which means they prefer warm weather because they can not warm themselves up very well in cold water or weather.  Turtles cardiovascular system is different than a humans cardiovascular system.  They have a three-chambered heart whereas humans have four chambers.  Turtles have adapted special muscles to help their lungs inhale air and expand their lungs because their ribs are fixed to their shells so they need extra help from muscles to expand their lungs.  Turtles eat a lot of plants and therefore have a long and skinny small intestine and they have extra bacteria in their digestive system to help the digestion of plants.  They receive a lot of nutrients from their food because they digest things very slowly.

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The loggerhead turtle lives in the ocean.  They are mostly found in coastal tropical and subtropical parts of the Atlantic ocean.  Loggerheads move to more temperate waters in search of food.  They have very strong jaws to help them chew things like sea urchins, conch’s and crabs.  Loggerhead Turtles shells can be three and a half feet long and can weigh up to 350 pounds. The Loggerhead turtle has a redish brown massive shell. Their life span is from 50 years to around 80 years but their are many that have lived longer.  Loggerhead turtles are very solitary creatures and only communicate during mating.  On land they are very slow and have a difficult time walking.  The Loggerhead can swim up to 22 mph and have high stamina and can swim for long amounts of time.

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The desert tortoise is most commonly found in the Mojave desert but they are also found in Sonoran deserts, west of California, Utah, Nevada, Arizona and the United States.  The desert tortoise is a fairly smaller turtle.  An adult desert tortoise are about 14 inches long and weigh about 15 pounds.  Desert tortoises are able to store water in their bladder and they can withstand high temperatures without losing a lot of water.  These turtles are able to go a long time with any water.  Temperatures can reach up to 104 degrees and the desert turtle can withstand heat and extreme cold temperature.  Desert tortoises are good diggers and burrow into the ground to stay cool when temperatures are really hot or to stay warm when temperatures are low.  They spend 98% of their time underground to maintain a steady temperature.  When temperatures are very hot the desert tortoises are very inactive.

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There is a very large amount of different kinds of turtles and all of their sizes vary.  Small turtles can be as little as three inches and large ones can grow up to eight feet long.  All turtles have a hard bony or rubbery shell.  Their upper shell is made of carapace and can be covered in scutes, which is a bony plate.  Turtles have a bottom shell called the plastron. Their shell acts as protection to them from predators. Turtles spinal cords are made of vertebrae which is fused onto the shell.  All turtles have four flipper type limbs.  Depending on if they live mainly in water, on land or in the desert the flippers' function vary from swimming, walking and digging.  Turtles do not have teeth so they have very strong jaws to break their food down

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Turtles can eat very basic plants to extremely odd things like cacti and deadly poisonous jellyfish. They sometimes attack their prey in groups and go after an individual or a small group of animals. Although they sometimes hunt in small groups, for the most part they are pretty solitary animals. All of the solitary turtles come together during mating season near a beach once a year. Turtles mate with the opposite sexy and bury their eggs in the sand or they are just laid on the ground. The eggs are usually buried under sand to hide them from other predators and keep them cool from the sun. Turtles never put their eggs in or near water they are always kept dry. If a turtle feels threatened or sees a predator nearby they will tuck their heads and limbs into its shell for extra protection.  While land turtles go to sleep or take a nap they prefer to be in a hole, buried, in a log or in a tree stump. Turtles feel more comfortable sleeping if they are hidden.

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Depending on the type of turtle the habitat varies. Turtles can live in the ocean, on coral reefs, lakes, ponds, creeks, forests, and deserts. Turtles live in most environments and do not have really specific requirements. Most commonly sea turtles are found in warm and tropical waters except for the leatherback turtle. The Leatherback turtle lives in Alaska and the European arctic. Sea turtles stay shallow in the water and close to coasts and near reefs, they usually do not go into the open waters of the ocean.