Techniques developed to study the distant past—from dating ancient artifacts to reconstructing climate records in ice cores—are now being repurposed to help us better understand the lives of modern ...

Cartoons often suggest turtles wear shells like removable armor. Those stories show turtles stepping out, swapping shells, or treating them like clothing. Biology disagrees. A turtle shell is not an ...

It would be a memorable sight. But it would also be so wrong to tip over Galápagos giant tortoises to see how shell shape affects their efforts to leg-pump, neck-stretch and rock right-side up again.

On a warm April afternoon, turtles gather on logs and rocks to absorb sunlight. Basking in the sun plays a critical role in ...

By studying the chemical fingerprints inside each layer, scientists have been able to learn about the turtles’ lives and the ...

In a video captured last year in Victorville, a raven can be seen pecking at a shell on the desert floor. With scrub brush and electric transmission towers in the background, three other ravens stand ...

How smushed shells could help to resolve paleontological mysteries. By Asher Elbein You never know where a bit of unusual scientific research is going to lead. Consider a 2012 study about turtle ...

Shell integration typically involves 50 to 60 individual bones fusing into a permanent structural cage. The carapace creates a mechanical constraint that prevents the chest from expanding during ...