Turtle Spine is a photograph by LeeAnn McLaneGoetz McLaneGoetzStudioLLCcom which was uploaded on October 22nd, 2011.
Title
Turtle Spine
Artist
LeeAnn McLaneGoetz McLaneGoetzStudioLLCcom
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
Turtle Spine
Seven Ponds Nature Center Dryden Michigan
Uploaded
October 22nd, 2011
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Comments (1)
LeeAnn McLane-Goetz
The rigid shell means turtles cannot breathe as other reptiles do, by changing the volume of their chest cavity via expansion and contraction of the ribs. Instead, turtles breathe in two ways. First, they employ buccal pumping, pulling air into their mouth, then pushing it into the lungs via oscillations of the floor of the throat. Secondly, by contracting the abdominal muscles that cover the posterior opening of the shell, the internal volume of the shell increases, drawing air into the lungs, allowing these muscles to function in much the same way as the mammalian diaphragm.