Sea turtles live in warm ocean waters They are in the family of air breathing reptiles Reptiles are cold blooded and have scaly skin
The first sea turtles lived about 200 million years ago Dinosaurs still roamed earth Not long ago paleontologists found a fossil skeleton of one of these prehistoric turtles They named it Arch elon Archelon was so big that if it were still alive today a car could park between its flippers ARCHELON ARCH e• lon A FOSSIL is the hardened remains or traces of ancient plant or animal life left in rock A PALEONTOLOGIST learns about ancient life by studying fossils
Over millions of years sea turtles evolved to become smaller and smaller Today they are among the oldest surviving creatures in the world
Almost every sea turtle has a shell that is hard and bony for protection The shell has two parts The top is called the carapace The bottom is called the plastron They are connected by bony bridges Large scales called scutes cover the carapace CARAPACE KAR ah pace SCOOTS SCUTES BRIDGE PLASTRON PLAStron
