Kinixys spekii Gray 1863 – Speke’s Hinge-back Tortoise, Speke’s Hinged Tortoise

Effects of opioids in the formalin test in the Speke's hinged tortoise (Kinixy's spekii).

Little is known about analgesia in lower vertebrates such as the Speke's hinged tortoise (Kinixy's spekii), yet of late they are increasingly being adopted as pets. The effects of morphine (5, 7.5, 10 and 20 mg/kg), pethidine (10, 20, and 50 mg/kg) and naloxone (5 mg/kg) on nociception induced by the formalin test (12.5%, 100 microL) were studied in the Speke's hinged tortoise. Formalin induced...

The last tortoise

The UN used World Environment Day earlier this month to launch a report highlighting the problems facing the conservation and management of biodiversity in the face of the many assaults humans are making on the natural environment. The report — Dead Planet, Living Planet; Biodiversity and Ecosystem Restoration for Sustainable Development — highlights not only the preservation of natural ecosyst...

A Two-headed Tortoise.

Tortoise and the Hare Robot

We investigated the effects of changing the teleoperation feel of operating a robot by modifying its speed and acceleration profiles, and found that reducing a robot’s maximum speed by half can reduce collisions by 32%, while only increasing navigation task time by 10%. Teleoperated robots are increasingly popular for enabling people to remotely attend meetings, explore dangerous areas, or view...

The Tortoise and the Hut

he men of old were born like the wild beasts. In woods, caves, and groves, they lived on food gathered in the fi elds, " wrote Marcus Vitruvius Pollio more than 2,000 years ago in his well-known account of classical traditions in architecture. One day, a dense group of trees, agitated by winds and storms, caught fi re. Humans nearby ran from the fl ames but then, attracted to the warmth, began ...