showing that the complete enclosure of the shell likely evolved by including dermal armor into the rib cage.

The turtle's shell is important to study, not just because of the apparent protection it provides for the animal, but also as an identification tool, in particular with fossils, as the shell is one of the most likely parts of a turtle to survive fossilization. Therefore, understanding the shell structure in living species provides comparable material with fossils.

The shell of the hawksbill turtle,

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