Turtle Skins For Sale On Etsy?

[Tiara]

http://www.etsy.com/listing/115304339/leather-turtle-skin

I haven't heard that there is skin under a turtle's shell but haven't cut open a dead one to find out myself. Somehow I doubt these are turtle skin. Ring lizard perhaps?

[WinterBear]

Nope, not a turtleskin. You are probably right that these are ring lizard skins.

If you are curious, a turtle does not have skin under its shell. The underside of the dome of the shell is made of plates of bone. If you were to look at the inner surface of the turtle shell, you would see its spine and ribs fused with the bony plates that make his shell. The turtle's skin lies over his bones, so on top of his shell, and is mostly visible on the shell as thin plates of a material similar to fingernails.

[Tiara]

Thanks Winterbear. I've seen empty turtle shells and what looked like vertebrae. I guessed that the shells were part of an adapted skeleton. So the surface with the patterns is skin plus keratin growing over? Fascinating how many ways evolution has come up with to have some sort of armored skin from exoskeletons to endoskeletons plus scutes, horns, quills, spines, barbs and more.

This vendor doesn't seem to be very informed. He had some snake skins up for sale that appeared to be cobra but listed as unknown species. How anyone could think that these were turtle skins though was something I can only imagine a person who has never seen a turtle in real life would come up with.

[camano ridge]

I actually contacted the vendor, he said he really had no idea what he had he was taking a guess.

[Tiara]

odd someone would think turtle instead of lizard but some people have so little connection to anything not mechanical, electrical or plastic now, they wouldn't know a turtle, lizard or giant salamander if they were bit by one.

[WinterBear]

Not terribly surprised. I was a TA for a comparative anatomy class, and had students that thought the newts and salamanders were seriously ill lizards and the tree frog had genetic deformities. And these were students who had to have had at least 2 semesters of biology to even be eligible for this class.

[Beaverslayer]

WinterBear, that's funny. A number of years ago, a pro football player had accepted an offer to play football here in Canada. He actually thought while on the flight here, how they were going to land an airplane of ice, and what it would be like to live in an igloo..true story...

I have also been asked by tourists, how long Canada has had those little sealed cups of cream for our coffee at restaurants.

[WinterBear]

I still get asked if we have electricity, how long I have to ride a horse to get to work, and other stupid things. "Gee, we run a generator on methane from horse manure so I can get the power to run the computer, and our internet service runs on telegraph wires". And they believe it. Oy.

[Tiara]

LMAO! My late husband and I lived about 5 miles south of the Canadian border near the Osyoyoos BC border crossing. But we were at about 4200' not in the valley. The last residence with power for at least 10 years. Nearest place to get gas or groceries was a 40 minute drive. One friend who came to visit and couldn't live more than 3 days off the food she kept in her house asked us what we did for food, did we eat a lot of beans and rice or canned food? She was in full view of the kitchen which had a refrigerator, upright freezer, gas range, microwave plus a wood cook stove, bread machine, flour mill and crock pot. And had just come in from the greenhouse where herbs and some greens grew all winter. Plus looking out the window at the large garden. This was not a Martha Stewart type woman, she was a horse trainer in the Seattle area but clueless about how to live without being close to a grocery store providing hamburger helper and other semi prepared food.

The house had a combination of public power, solar and generator backup plus wood heating, cooking and hot water heater. But my sister who is more of an M Stewart type, was afraid to come visit--7 hour drive, as she thought she'd have to use an outhouse even though assured we did have a well and indoor flush toilet plus a hot shower. Or be eaten by a cougar or bear if she stepped outside. I consider it intellectual laziness not to take the time to ask a few questions, learn about the world beyond what is on tv and your daily life and expand your horizons. But then I was blessed with insatiable curiosity and need to try many experiences. I still have all fingers, toes and other anatomy without too many scars.