Turtles have acquired characteristics that allowed them to be independent from aquatic environments. Within the wide range of reptilian forms that exist, turtles are characterized as the only group with a carapace comprising their body, as a result of radical bone structure modifications.
This bony structure formed dorsally by the carapace and ventrally by the plastron (firmly bonded to each other through the bridges) and which are united by the bridge, gives protection against predators, but at the same time slows turtles down due to its weight. The shell is constituted of bony scutes and two openings, one in front where the head and the anterior limbs come out and one on the back where the tail and the posterior limbs come out.
Sea Turtles of the Dermochelydae family, whose only representative in the present is the giant sea turtle Dermochelys coriacea, is an exception of the generalized structure of the sea turtle carapace. This species, instead of having a hard bony shell, has a mosaic of small polygonal bones which are not welded to the axial skeleton, but instead embedded in a thick skin with a high fat content that helps in the regulation of their body temperature. This layer of fat allows them to be the only species of sea turtle that can live for extended periods of time in cold and temperate waters where no other species of sea turtles would be able to survive.
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