Editing Turtle (section)

===Head and neck===
[[File:Mocsári teknős Kiserdő 2016.jpg|thumb|Head and neck of a [[European pond turtle]]|alt=Closeup of the head and neck of turtle|left]]
The turtle's skull is unique among living [[amniote]]s (which includes reptiles, birds and mammals); it is solid and rigid with no openings for muscle attachment ([[temporal fenestrae]]).{{sfn|Franklin|2011|p=18}}{{sfn|Orenstein|2012|p=33}} Muscles instead attach to recesses in the back of the skull. Turtle skulls vary in shape, from the long and narrow skulls of softshells to the broad and flattened skull of the [[mata mata]].{{sfn|Orenstein|2012|p=33}} Some turtle species have developed large and thick heads<!-- for their size-->, allowing for greater muscle mass and stronger bites.{{sfn|Franklin|2011|p=28}}

Turtles that are carnivorous or [[durophagy|durophagous]] (eating hard-shelled animals) have the most powerful bites. For example, the durophagous ''[[Mesoclemmys nasuta]]'' has a bite force of  {{convert|432|lbf|N|abbr=on}}. Species that are [[insectivorous]], [[piscivorous]] (fish-eating), or [[omnivorous]] have lower bite forces.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Evolution of Bite Performance in Turtles |last1=Herrel |first1=Anthony |last2=O'Reilly |first2=James C. |last3=Richmond |first3=Alan M. |s2cid=54067445 |journal=Journal of Evolutionary Biology |volume=15 |issue=6 |pages=1083–1094 |year=2002 |doi=10.1046/j.1420-9101.2002.00459.x|citeseerx=10.1.1.484.5540 }}</ref> Living turtles lack teeth but have beaks made of [[rhamphotheca|keratin sheaths]] along the edges of the jaws.{{sfn|Orenstein|2012|pp=33–34}}<ref name=Firefly/> These sheaths may have sharp edges for cutting meat, serrations for clipping plants, or broad plates for breaking [[mollusks]].{{sfn|Orenstein|2012|p=34}} Sea turtles, and several extinct forms, have evolved a bony [[secondary palate]] which completely separates the oral and nasal cavities.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Abramyan|first1=J|last2=Richman|first2=J. M.|year=2015|title=Recent insights into the morphological diversity in the amniote primary and secondary palates|journal=Developmental Dynamics|volume=244|issue=12|pages=1457–1468|doi=10.1002/dvdy.24338|pmid=26293818|pmc=4715671}}</ref>

The necks of turtles are highly flexible, possibly to compensate for their rigid shells. Some species, like sea turtles, have short necks while others, such as [[snake-necked turtle]]s, have long ones. Despite this, all turtle species have eight [[cervical vertebrae|neck vertebrae]], a consistency not found in other reptiles but similar to mammals.{{sfn|Orenstein|2012|p=36}} Some snake-necked turtles have both long necks and large heads, limiting their ability to lift them when not in water.{{sfn|Franklin|2011|p=28}} Some turtles have folded structures in the [[larynx]] or [[glottis]] that vibrate to produce sound. Other species have [[elastin]]-rich [[vocal cord]]s.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=P. Russell|first1=Anthony|last2=M. Bauer|first2=Aaron|year=2020|title=Vocalization by extant nonavian reptiles: A synthetic overview of phonation and the vocal apparatus|journal=The Anatomical Record: Advances in Integrative Anatomy and Evolutionary Biology|volume=304|issue=7|pages=1478–1528|doi=10.1002/ar.24553|pmid=33099849|s2cid=225069598|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Capshaw, Grace|author2=Willis, Katie L.|author3=Han, Dawei|author4=Bierman, Hilary S.|year=2020|title=Neuroendocrine Regulation of Animal Vocalization|contribution=Reptile sound production and perception|pages=101–118|editor1=Rosenfeld, Cheryl S.|editor2=Hoffmann, Frauke|publisher=Academic Press|isbn=978-0-12-815160-0}}</ref>