Biological invasions are among the major global causes of biodiversity loss. The pet trade is main pathway by which reptiles introduced into new environments. After EU import ban on pond slider (Trachemys scripta), other species pet-traded freshwater turtles more often reported from wild. Here we report first and genetically verified record Chinese soft-shelled turtle (Pelodiscus sinensis) east...

The steady flow of European and other international visitors to the Edmonton Program has prompted many queries concerning differences in the way palliative medicine is practiced in different centres. Furthermore, one doesn't have to cross the pond (Atlantic) to discover striking differences in practice patterns: significant differences exist in the practice of palliative medicine across Canada....

Euphrates turtle is the only soft shell turtle of Iran, and unfortunately is in danger of extinction due to multiple reasons. Imaging techniques, in addition to their importance in diagnosis of injuries to animals, have been used as non-invasive methods to provide normal anatomic views. A few studies have been conducted to understand body structure of the Euphrates turtle. Since there is only g...

The European pond turtle, Emys orbicularis (Linnaeus, 1758), is one of the world’s most widely distributed chelonian species. We investigated its mitochondrial phylogeography and demography using 1300 cyt b sequences from the entire range, with a focus on the eastern part, in particular on Turkey, where the species currently suffers massive losses. Coloration data from 41450 turtles were compar...

Abstract The European Turtle Dove (turtle dove) is globally threatened after undergoing a sustained and generalised decline across its breeding range, with habitat loss suggested as the main driver. Here, we reviewed scientific literature on associations in relation to distribution, numbers, nesting substrates, food foraging habitats, identify optimal management measures. Large-scale distributi...

BACKGROUND Bothremydidae is a clade of extinct pleurodiran turtles known from the Cretaceous to Paleogene of Africa, Europe, India, Madagascar, and North and South America. The group is most diverse during the Late Cretaceous to Paleogene of Africa. Little is known, however, about the early evolution of the group. METHODS We here figure and describe a fossil turtle from early Late Cretaceous ...

The cerebral cortex of the turtle Pseudemys scripta elegans consists of five areas, L, D2, D1, DM and M, forming narrow strips curving in parallel around the hemisphere. The cell types of the cortex were studied with the Golgi method in areas D1 and D2. The principle cell type possesses a soma in the cellular layer, spiny apical and basal dendrites, and a local axon aborization as well as long-...

The oropharynx as a functional entity plays a fundamental role in feeding. Transitions from aquatic to terrestrial lifestyles in vertebrates demanded major changes of the oropharynx for the required adaptations to a different feeding environment. Extant turtles evolved terrestrial feeding modes in three families (testudinids, emydids, geoemydids)-independently from other amniotes-and are theref...