Turtles’ smooth shells mean they make a natural choice for a footstool design, the ideal shape for comfortable sitting. So what are these strange, weird and wonderful animals all about? Let’s take a deep-dive into the life and times of the turtle. As it turns out, you should never underestimate these extraordinary animals.
Everything you want to know about the turtle
Their name, turtle, comes from the French tortue or tortre, meaning ‘tortoise’. In the USA they don’t bother making the difference between tortoises and turtles, calling them all ‘turtles’. Here in the UK we tend to call the water-dwellers turtles and the land-dwellers tortoises.
Turtles are cold-blooded reptiles. There are at least 360 different kinds of turtle either living right now or recently extinct, and the family includes tortoises as a sub-group. They’re found on every continent except the Arctic and Antarctic, and on many thousands of islands scattered around the seas and oceans. Most turtles live in or near water and lay their eggs on dry land.
Turtle shells are mostly made from bone, with a curved top and a flat belly plate underneath. The shell itself is joined to the animal’s ribs and backbone, an integral part of its body not just an outer shell. Mostly opportunistic omnivores, they’ll eat more or less anything they can find, from plants to small, slow animals. Some migrate short distances with the seasons but sea turtles can swim thousands of miles just to lay their eggs on a favourite beach.
The biggest turtle, which also happens to be the fourth biggest reptile on earth, is the leatherback, a huge seagoing beast that can grow as long as nine feet and weigh more than 500 kilos. But roll back time into the dim and distant geological past and the Archelon ischyros ruled the waves, as long as 4.5m and as wide as 5.25m. It, apparently, weighed in at more than 2,200 kilos. At the other end of the scale the world’s smallest turtle is Chersobius signatus, who lives in South Africa and is less than 10cm long.
You know your fingernails and hair? They’re made from keratin, the same stuff the surface of a turtle shell is made from. This outer skin is what gives the shells their beautiful scales, patterns and colours. Most turtles have 38 scales called scutes on the top shell and 16 underneath.
The shape of a turtle shell depends on the species. On land they tend to be more dome shaped, while sea turtles and other water-living turtles are flatter and smoother for easier swimming. Sea turtle shells are cleverly streamlined so they can swim faster, some with pointed shells for extra protection and camouflage. Males sometimes fight using the edges of their shells to ram their opponents.
Meat-eating turtles can have very strong jaws and powerful bites, while those of the insect and plant-eaters tend to be less strong. While they don’t grow teeth their ‘beaks’, made of keratin, are brilliant for cutting meat and clipping leaves off vegetation. While sea turtles tend to have short necks, all turtles have unusually flexible necks, probably to compensate for having such a tough, rigid shell.
On land these animals are pretty slow, retreating into their shells when threatened. Sea turtles can swim really fast, sometimes as fast as 20 mph, and have special front legs with flippers to help them zoom along. Others use their legs like paddles or oars. Some have little tails to help them balance, others are almost tailless. Some types of turtles have spines on their tails.
Turtles have a good sense of taste and smell, although their hearing is often limited, and scientists say they use their senses of smell and taste to help them navigate in water. Although many types spend most of their time under water, all turtles breathe air so have to come to the surface regularly for a top-up. Some only stay under water for a few minutes, others for as long as an hour, and a few can breathe through their backsides, taking up dissolved oxygen from the water.
The alligator snapping turtle is a clever animal, having evolved a curious worm-like extension to its tongue that it uses as a lure to attract fish. Most of the species who eat meat only catch things like molluscs, snails, jellyfish and other small creatures that don’t move very fast, although a few will chase fish. Many turtle species, including land tortoises, supplement their diet with eggshells, animal bones, hair, and even poop. The hawksbill turtle eats sponges. Oddly, the young of many species start off as meat eaters but end up more vegetarian as grown-ups.
Like most animals turtles talk to each other, bellowing to their mates when courting and learning to talk as early as the egg stage, when they make little peeping sounds from inside the shell. They also chat when migrating and one, the oblong turtle, is particularly chatty, making strange clacks, clicks, squawks, hoots, chirps, wails, hoo sounds, grunting and growling, blowing, howling and even making a sound a lot like a drum roll.
Also like most animals, they play together. Florida red-bellied cooter turtles are bright enough to learn tasks and have long memories, remembering things for almost a year. The same goes for giant tortoises, very clever animals who tend to learn even better when taught in groups and remember what they’ve been taught for almost a decade, giving many humans a run for our money. They even navigate brilliantly using landmarks and a map-like system that’s surprisingly accurate. These navigation skills correspond with high cognition function, which basically means they’re pretty clever!
If threatened by a predator, turtles take action. Some run away, some freeze, others hide inside their shell or bury themselves in mud… but a few will attack. They can bite and some will poop on predators, giving off a horrible stink from their cloaca or musk glands. Some play dead, others scream to scare predators away.
The only reptiles that migrate long distances, sea turtles cans swim thousands of miles every few years to return to their favourite nesting beach, and young turtles can migrate long distances from the beach they were born. It’s called ‘natal homing’ – coming back to the place you were born – and it’s apparently a genetic skill passed down through the generations. Exactly how they do it remains a mystery. Some think it might be something to do with scent, others say it might be down to some sort of magnetic sense.
Turtles are solitary animals, they don’t form families or groups. They have all assorts of different ways of courting, depending on the species, including head-bobbing, butting and biting. Mating can be an aggressive process and in some species females will go to dramatic lengths to escape from the males. Sometimes they attack the male, or get into a position that makes mating impossible and stay there until he loses patience and swims off. Some females will even beach themselves on the sand, knowing that males won’t follow them out of the water.
All turtles lay their eggs on land, and most build a nest or hole to lay in. Some walk for miles inland before digging their hole, others lay their eggs in holes dug on the beach. Anything from one to a hundred eggs are laid, depending on the animal’s species and size. Some females lay several times a year to account for monsoons.
Once the eggs are laid the female wanders off and leaves them to their own devices. Incubation takes anything from 2-3 months for turtles in temperate climates, more in tropical areas. The babies use a special egg tooth to break out of the shell and once they’re out, they’ll grow fast.
Turtles can live for a very long time. The world’s oldest turtle – also the world’s oldest land animal – is a Seychelles giant tortoise called Jonathan, who is almost 200 years old.
So… that’s the animal you celebrate when you buy a turtle animal footstool. Next time you see one in real life give it a nod of respect for being so extraordinary, and for surviving and thriving since the Late Permian, period, which lasted from 298.9 million years ago to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.902 million years ago. That’s what we call a success story!
Turtle footstools – A fun, funky home decor choice
Turtles’ smooth shells mean they make a natural choice for a footstool design, the ideal shape for comfortable sitting. So what are these strange, weird and wonderful animals all about? Let’s take a deep-dive into the life and times of the turtle. As it turns out, you should never underestimate these extraordinary animals.
Everything you want to know about the turtle
Their name, turtle, comes from the French tortue or tortre, meaning ‘tortoise’. In the USA they don’t bother making the difference between tortoises and turtles, calling them all ‘turtles’. Here in the UK we tend to call the water-dwellers turtles and the land-dwellers tortoises.
Turtles are cold-blooded reptiles. There are at least 360 different kinds of turtle either living right now or recently extinct, and the family includes tortoises as a sub-group. They’re found on every continent except the Arctic and Antarctic, and on many thousands of islands scattered around the seas and oceans. Most turtles live in or near water and lay their eggs on dry land.
Turtle shells are mostly made from bone, with a curved top and a flat belly plate underneath. The shell itself is joined to the animal’s ribs and backbone, an integral part of its body not just an outer shell. Mostly opportunistic omnivores, they’ll eat more or less anything they can find, from plants to small, slow animals. Some migrate short distances with the seasons but sea turtles can swim thousands of miles just to lay their eggs on a favourite beach.
The biggest turtle, which also happens to be the fourth biggest reptile on earth, is the leatherback, a huge seagoing beast that can grow as long as nine feet and weigh more than 500 kilos. But roll back time into the dim and distant geological past and the Archelon ischyros ruled the waves, as long as 4.5m and as wide as 5.25m. It, apparently, weighed in at more than 2,200 kilos. At the other end of the scale the world’s smallest turtle is Chersobius signatus, who lives in South Africa and is less than 10cm long.
You know your fingernails and hair? They’re made from keratin, the same stuff the surface of a turtle shell is made from. This outer skin is what gives the shells their beautiful scales, patterns and colours. Most turtles have 38 scales called scutes on the top shell and 16 underneath.
The shape of a turtle shell depends on the species. On land they tend to be more dome shaped, while sea turtles and other water-living turtles are flatter and smoother for easier swimming. Sea turtle shells are cleverly streamlined so they can swim faster, some with pointed shells for extra protection and camouflage. Males sometimes fight using the edges of their shells to ram their opponents.
Meat-eating turtles can have very strong jaws and powerful bites, while those of the insect and plant-eaters tend to be less strong. While they don’t grow teeth their ‘beaks’, made of keratin, are brilliant for cutting meat and clipping leaves off vegetation. While sea turtles tend to have short necks, all turtles have unusually flexible necks, probably to compensate for having such a tough, rigid shell.
On land these animals are pretty slow, retreating into their shells when threatened. Sea turtles can swim really fast, sometimes as fast as 20 mph, and have special front legs with flippers to help them zoom along. Others use their legs like paddles or oars. Some have little tails to help them balance, others are almost tailless. Some types of turtles have spines on their tails.
Turtles have a good sense of taste and smell, although their hearing is often limited, and scientists say they use their senses of smell and taste to help them navigate in water. Although many types spend most of their time under water, all turtles breathe air so have to come to the surface regularly for a top-up. Some only stay under water for a few minutes, others for as long as an hour, and a few can breathe through their backsides, taking up dissolved oxygen from the water.
The alligator snapping turtle is a clever animal, having evolved a curious worm-like extension to its tongue that it uses as a lure to attract fish. Most of the species who eat meat only catch things like molluscs, snails, jellyfish and other small creatures that don’t move very fast, although a few will chase fish. Many turtle species, including land tortoises, supplement their diet with eggshells, animal bones, hair, and even poop. The hawksbill turtle eats sponges. Oddly, the young of many species start off as meat eaters but end up more vegetarian as grown-ups.
Like most animals turtles talk to each other, bellowing to their mates when courting and learning to talk as early as the egg stage, when they make little peeping sounds from inside the shell. They also chat when migrating and one, the oblong turtle, is particularly chatty, making strange clacks, clicks, squawks, hoots, chirps, wails, hoo sounds, grunting and growling, blowing, howling and even making a sound a lot like a drum roll.
Also like most animals, they play together. Florida red-bellied cooter turtles are bright enough to learn tasks and have long memories, remembering things for almost a year. The same goes for giant tortoises, very clever animals who tend to learn even better when taught in groups and remember what they’ve been taught for almost a decade, giving many humans a run for our money. They even navigate brilliantly using landmarks and a map-like system that’s surprisingly accurate. These navigation skills correspond with high cognition function, which basically means they’re pretty clever!
If threatened by a predator, turtles take action. Some run away, some freeze, others hide inside their shell or bury themselves in mud… but a few will attack. They can bite and some will poop on predators, giving off a horrible stink from their cloaca or musk glands. Some play dead, others scream to scare predators away.
The only reptiles that migrate long distances, sea turtles cans swim thousands of miles every few years to return to their favourite nesting beach, and young turtles can migrate long distances from the beach they were born. It’s called ‘natal homing’ – coming back to the place you were born – and it’s apparently a genetic skill passed down through the generations. Exactly how they do it remains a mystery. Some think it might be something to do with scent, others say it might be down to some sort of magnetic sense.
Turtles are solitary animals, they don’t form families or groups. They have all assorts of different ways of courting, depending on the species, including head-bobbing, butting and biting. Mating can be an aggressive process and in some species females will go to dramatic lengths to escape from the males. Sometimes they attack the male, or get into a position that makes mating impossible and stay there until he loses patience and swims off. Some females will even beach themselves on the sand, knowing that males won’t follow them out of the water.
All turtles lay their eggs on land, and most build a nest or hole to lay in. Some walk for miles inland before digging their hole, others lay their eggs in holes dug on the beach. Anything from one to a hundred eggs are laid, depending on the animal’s species and size. Some females lay several times a year to account for monsoons.
Once the eggs are laid the female wanders off and leaves them to their own devices. Incubation takes anything from 2-3 months for turtles in temperate climates, more in tropical areas. The babies use a special egg tooth to break out of the shell and once they’re out, they’ll grow fast.
Turtles can live for a very long time. The world’s oldest turtle – also the world’s oldest land animal – is a Seychelles giant tortoise called Jonathan, who is almost 200 years old.
So… that’s the animal you celebrate when you buy a turtle animal footstool. Next time you see one in real life give it a nod of respect for being so extraordinary, and for surviving and thriving since the Late Permian, period, which lasted from 298.9 million years ago to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.902 million years ago. That’s what we call a success story!