They likely could not survive a couple minutes or even seconds without it. A turtle's shell includes bones and nerve endings that it needs to live and function. The shell is an important part of a turtle's anatomy which includes their rib cage, spinal cord, and nerve endings. Are turtle...
In Clinical Anatomy and Physiology of Exotic Species, 2005 The shell The dome of the shell is called the carapace and the flat underpart is called the plastron. The joint between the carapace and plastron is called the bridge. The cranial aperture is called the axillary aperture, and caudally...