Tortoises are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines. Like other turtles, tortoises have a shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, and like other members of the suborder Cryptodira, they retract their necks and heads directly backward into the shell to protect them.
Tortoise
Tile with two rabbits, two snakes, and a tortoise, illustration for Zakariya al-Qazwini's book ʿAjāʾib al-makhlūqāt, Iran, 19th century.
Tortoise in art a traditional lock at Swayambhunath, Kathmandu
Adult male leopard tortoise, South Africa
Reptiles, as commonly defined, are a group of tetrapods with an ectothermic ('cold-blooded') metabolism and amniotic development. Living reptiles comprise four orders: Testudines (turtles), Crocodilia (crocodilians), Squamata, and Rhynchocephalia. As of May 2023, about 12,000 living species of reptiles are listed in the Reptile Database. The study of the traditional reptile orders, customarily in combination with the study of modern amphibians, is called herpetology.
Reptile
Reptiles, from Nouveau Larousse Illustré, 1897–1904, notice the inclusion of amphibians (below the crocodiles)
"Antediluvian monster", a Mosasaurus discovered in a Maastricht limestone quarry, 1770 (contemporary engraving)
The first reptiles had an anapsid type of skull roof, as seen in the Permian genus Captorhinus
