Talk:Testudines

Ectotherms
It says turtles are ectothermic - am I wrong in thinking the turtles in the North Atlantic are warm-blooded?? Stevebritgimp 18:59, 16 September 2007 (UTC)
 * Yes, they're all ectothermic but it's important to understand that dividing animals into "cold-" and "warm-blooded" camps isn't terribly accurate. There's a whole spectrum of temperature control mechanisms. Sea turtles in the North Atlantic (specifically, leatherback turtles) aren't warm blooded in the sense of being able to control their body temperature precisely in the same way as mammals or birds, but they do have mechanisms that allow them to have a body temperature slightly to significantly above water temperature. Some of this comes from their size, some from insulation that keeps the body core away from the cold water, and some from countercurrent heat exchangers. So they're ectotherms with some endotherm-like physiological adaptations. Cheers, Neale Neale Monks 19:35, 16 September 2007 (UTC)
 * Cool - thanks for clarifying that.Stevebritgimp 15:19, 23 September 2007 (UTC)

Class Reptilia/Order Testudines vs. Class Chelonia
Do you think that we should begin to change to information from Testundines to the new class of turtles, terrapins, and tortoises-Chelonia? (Collins and Taggart, 2002) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Brendonnn (talk • contribs) 01:41, 27 April 2008 (UTC)
 * From an ornithological standpoint I would so be in favor of starting to get rid of "Reptilia" for good, but this question is probably best asked at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Amphibians and Reptiles. Dysmorodrepanis (talk) 15:09, 6 May 2008 (UTC)

Merge with Turtle
I propose merging the article with Turtle since they both cover the same group of animals. There no point in having two different articles. Bobisbob2 (talk) 19:16, 2 February 2009 (UTC)