|
Adaptations to sea life
 |
|
A nesting green turtle showing her morphological adaptation
|
Sea turtles are very well adapted to sea life. Some of their morphological features are:
- Stream-lined body and short neck to reduce friction in water and to faciliate swimming.
- Limbs evolved into flippers and the elongated front flippers help to give strong propulsion in water for agile swimming.
Sea turtles also have anatomical and physiological adaptation to sea life. For example, they have modified tear glands to get rid of excess salts in the form of brine twice as salty as seawater. They have a specialized respiratory system for prolonged diving.
 |
A flatback demonstrating that the secretion from the tear glands also serves to remove sand during nest building.
Copyright: Chloe Schauble
|
|
