After years of working with reptiles, I have learned something: turtles and tortoises are just weird animals. They have an iconic shell that is unlike anything in the animal kingdom. Their bizarre skeletal structure greatly impedes their range of motion and movement speed. They have a completely unique type of skull from all other vertebrates. They are largely dim-witted animals (with a few exceptions). And yet, turtles and tortoises are among the most successful species on the planet. Of course, most of their success is in large part due to their incredible shells (which is also just weird).
