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Hydrodynamics Of Freshwater Turtles: Maneuverability, Stability, And Effects Of Shell Shape, Gabriel Rivera

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Aquatic organisms exhibit tremendous diversity in body design and modes of propulsion that can strongly influence locomotor performance. Understanding how such differences affect locomotor performance is a major focus of research in integrative organismal biology and can provide insight into the evolutionary origins of such variation. Turtles are unique among extant tetrapods (i.e., amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals) in that they possess rigid bodies. In turtles, the vertebrae are fused dorsally with a bony carapace, precluding movement of the axial skeleton between the base of the neck and the tail. As a result of their immobilized axial skeleton and reduced …