Are there turtles in the rainforest

Though most of these species are opportunistic omnivores, differences in diet are noted between species, and some species have evolved into prey specialists. The rainforest is home to many species of tortoise, including two popularly kept as pets: red-footed tortoises Chelonoidis carbonaria and yellow-footed tortoises Chelonoidis denticulata.

These colorfully footed turtles are omnivores that eat plant material, invertebrates like snails and carrion found on the forest floor. Fruit is an important dietary component of their diet, and the breeding behavior of male yellow-footed tortoises is known to be affected by fruit abundance.

Semi-aquatic and terrestrial rainforest turtles are generally omnivores since rainforest habitats offer a lot of fungi, fruit and invertebrates for food. The tiny Vietnamese leaf turtle Geoemyda spengleri is also an omnivore that is especially fond of earthworms and slugs, though they likely eat fallen fruit as well. Turtles of the rainforest waterways eat a diet similar to aquatic turtles in other regions.

The shell of the turtle is a unique structure. It basically encloses the body in a box that is covered with hardened scales. The top part is called the carapace, and the bottom part the plastron. The shell is actually an extension of the ribs. They have expanded outwards and the tips have fused together to form a circle of peripheral bone. It's an unusual arrangement, as it means the ribs contain the shoulder and pelvic girdle.

I n all other vertebrates such as ourselves the shoulders and hips are outside of, not inside, the ribcage. However, some suggest it may have gradually evolved from an ancestor that was essentially ribless, such as the frogs. There are advantages and disadvantages to the shell. This includes protection against predators and environmental elements. However, no adaptation can avoid trade offs and the development of the shell is not without it's costs.

Turtle respiration. Because turtles have a shell that is essentially their expanded ribs, and this is very rigid, they cannot contract any coastal muscles to breathe in and out. Instead they create a vacuum by relaxing the muscles that hold up the viscera. This sags down, expanding the internal air space, and sucking in air. Pulling the muscles that hold that viscera up pushes air out of the lungs.

This is the process in land turtles, and it is expiration that requires the effort. However, for turtles living in water it is the opposite; the surrounding water medium supports the body and it thus requires effort to push the gut contents down and away from the shell for inspiration.

Some aquatic turtles have evolved variations on their respiration. They suck water in and pass it over a surface that has high vascularisation, with outfoldings of skin villi that work they same way as they do in the lung.

By vastly increasing the surface area of the skin they are allowing for gaseous exchange to occur. Individual turtles can reach 3 feet 1 m in length and can weigh over pounds kg. Unlike their terrestrial counterparts, these marine turtles can reach speeds of up to 35 mph 56 kph. Green sea turtles breathe air and when asleep are able to remain submerged for up to two hours without resurfacing for oxygen. On average, green sea turtles reach sexual maturity at age of 25 and have a lifespan of 50 years.

Females return to the beaches where they were born to nest, often traveling great distances from the habitats where they feed during the rest of the year. The range of the green sea turtles extends through most tropical and subtropical oceans in the world. The Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea is home to the Atlantic subpopulation — where they live in shallow waters and travel through costal inlets, bays, and estuaries.

Adult green sea turtles are herbivorous, their diet consisting mainly of sea grasses and algae. Their green diet is thought to produce the greenish colored fat which gives green sea turtles their name. Juvenile and new hatchlings face many predators throughout their early life. Once they reach maturity, green sea turtles have few predators beyond sharks.

Human use of nesting beaches for development and poaching, either for food or ornamentation, have been the main drivers of green sea turtle population decline.