Bones make up the majority of the skeletal system in turtles as opposed to amphibians who have a large amount of cartilage in their system. Connective tissue in the turtles is mineralized and becomes bone and the interior of their bones consists of sponge like marrow. In some cases the marrow inside the bones produces both red and white blood cells (Dawson 2000).
    The turtle skeleton is divided into two main sections, the endoskeleton and the ectoskeleton. The endoskeleton consists of all the internal bones and the ectoskeleton of a turtle is its shell. The endoskeleton is further divided into  2 subsections called the axial skeleton and the appendicular skeleton. The axial skeleton is made up of the skull and both the cervical and thoracic vertebrae. The appendicular skeleton on the other hand consists the remaining bones in the skeleton (Poland 2000).

ECTOSKELETON

• Shell

• Axial Skeleton (Dawson 2000)

• Appendicular Skeleton- the limbs are designed for aquatic life and specialized for swimming. The front limbs are designed much like paddles and the back limbs are used mainly for steering and not as much for swimming (Poland 2000).

        Girdles:
        Scapula            Coracoid