Life in a Shell: A Physiologist’s View of a Turtle

by Donald C. Jackson

Trundling along in essentially the same form for some 220 million years, turtles have seen dinosaurs come and go, mammals emerge, and humankind expand its dominion. Is it any wonder the persistent reptile bested the hare? In this engaging book physiologist Donald Jackson shares a lifetime of observation of this curious creature, allowing us a look under the shell of an animal at once so familiar and so strange. Here we discover how the turtle’s proverbial slowness helps it survive a long, cold winter under ice. How the shell not only serves as a protective home but also influences such essential functions as buoyancy control, breathing, and surviving remarkably long periods without oxygen, and how many other physiological features help define this unique animal. Jackson offers insight into what exactly it’s like to live inside a shell―to carry the heavy carapace on land and in water, to breathe without an expandable ribcage, to have sex with all that body armor intervening. Along the way we also learn something about the process of scientific discovery―how the answer to one question leads to new questions, how a chance observation can change the direction of study, and above all how new research always builds on the previous work of others. A clear and informative exposition of physiological concepts using the turtle as a model organism, the book is as interesting for what it tells us about scientific investigation as it is for its deep and detailed understanding of how the enduring turtle “works.”

Genres: Animals, Nonfiction, Science, Biology

192 pages, Hardcover

First published February 4, 2011

Reviews

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting (mostly) reading on turtle physiology, pointing you in the direction of answers to really great questions like, "how the dickens can a living animal that breathes survive for several months resting at the bottom of a frozen pond?" However, only enter this book if you have a strong college-level background in both physiology and chemistry. The steep technical nature of his writing means that everyone else should steer clear, especially since Jackson doesn't have the scientific poetry in his soul that, say, Rachel Carson or Lewis Thomas have.*

* This is not to mention his humor which is as out of place as humor in John Frame's work and even more ghastly. His jokes tend to be 1) not that funny to begin with, 2) use overly officious, technical language, and 3) be really, really long. One quoted example should suffice:

"... the shell has afforded a formidable defense against external dangers of both the animate and inanimate varieties. Even outrageous contemporary images of turtles, such as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the sewer-dwelling superheroes that wield martial arts weapons with humanlike hands while gritting their full sets of teeth, retain some authenticity by having shells that make them recognizable as turtles and of course employing them as protective armor against blows from evildoers. Most turtles do not possess a ninja turtle's weaponry, so they rely more on the retraction of head and limbs within their shell if escape to a safe haven is impossible. (pg. 10)" I mean, ouch.

[Dale Baker]

I will let ya know...this for work for me...so may not be a popular book..the author is foremost authority on the phsyiology of fresh water turtles...i am very interested in their oxygen utilization...we, colleagues at ucsd/sio have an nsf grant to look at this in ocean/sea turtles...thought I would learn all I could about fresh water ...again dr. jackson is amazing...

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

This definitely isn't a book for people only casually interested in turtles, but it's a good bridge between basic information on turtles and scientific papers. It has just enough whimsy to keep someone like me who didn't understand everything being talked about interested.

[Patrik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative, but at times it gets a bit dry and reads more like a review article of the author's work.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book if you want to know a bit about how turtles make a living. Good physiology, interesting stories, and a nice read. Definitely correct on the technical side, and it is a bit on the technical side, but as someone in the field, I appreciated that. Probably best for people with a bit of a background and interest in animal physiology.

[Monika · Rating 4 out of 5]

The information was interesting, but the writing was maybe a little bit more technical than I was looking for as a "casual interest" read. The book was basically a summarization of the various scientific papers the author has written.

[Mara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jackson's sense of humor is hit and miss, and overall the content assumes a somewhat significant base knowledge of physiology, but there are helpful summaries and relevant anecdotes at regular intervals. Enough, at least, to keep one as completely ignorant of science as me interested.

[Nattha · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was short, but very technical.

[Harry A · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It's perfect for a layperson who wants to understand the fascinating facts about turtle physiology he discusses. I recommend it highly!