<I>Chelydra serpentina</I> (IMAGE)

University of the Witwatersrand

<I>Chelydra serpentina</I>

Caption

A Computed Tomography rendering of a snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina) showing the skeleton (white), lungs (blue), and abdominal muscles (red and pink) used to ventilate the lungs. Because turtles have locked their ribs up into the iconic turtle shell, they can no longer use their ribs to breathe as in most other animals and instead have developed a unique abdominal muscle based system.

Credit

Emma R. Schachner

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