TURTLES: The Animal Answer Guide

What better way to learn about a subject than by question and answer? Turtle experts Gibbons and Greene are familiar with the questions everyone asks, and they launch the subject with the most basic one of all: what are turtles? The answer is that they are one of the most recognisable groups of animals on earth, with their shell, protruding legs and toothless jaws. They need to be distinguished from tortoises and terrapins, though turtle is the generic name for all the species, which is at least 200 million years old. Most turtle experts agree that the world has more than 300 living species of turtles, divided into 12 taxonomic families. Turtles are important players in the food web, and can serve as sentinels of environmental quality. They are cold-blooded, but they often choose to bask in warm places and can raise their body temperature with a resulting increase in metabolism. When they sleep they close their eyes. Some turtles vocalise, and males may fight for a female. Turtles do not reduce fish populations, contrary to the complaints of some fishermen, but they do kill and eat ducks. Turtles are likely to be affected by global warming and are easily poisoned by pollution, which is one of the reasons it is inadvisable to eat them. Turtles have a habit of wandering into the road in America and get hit by cars, while females often nest by the roadside. Turtles have an important role in mythology, particularly Native North American tribes, while Chinese and Hindu stories represent the world as laid out on the back of a turtle. 163pp, paperback, black and white and colour photos, species lists.