Hawksbill sea turtle are taken by humans, though it is illegal to hunt them in many countries. In some parts of the world, hawksbill sea turtles are eaten as a delicacy. As far back as the fifth century BC, sea turtles, including the hawksbill, were eaten as delicacies in China. Many cultures also use turtles' shells for decoration. These turtles have been harvested for their beautiful shell since Egyptian times, and the material known as tortoiseshell is normally from the hawksbill. In China, where it was known as "tai mei", the hawksbill is called the "tortoise-shell turtle", named primarily for its shell, which
Turtle shell before the carapace structure. Close examination of the partially formed carapace revealed similarity to the fully formed carapace in crown turtles such as the lack of intercostal muscles and limited rib mobility. Furthermore, it is made up of modified forms of laterally expanded and broadened ribs without ossification, similar in structure to the modern turtle embryo. The addition of South Africa’s 260-million-year-old Permian stem reptile "E. africanus", the hypothesized earliest stem turtle predating the "O. semitestacea" by 40 million years, revealed the early stages of carapace evolution. Histological data characterized "E. africanus" and "Proganochelys" ribs as homologous structures, both broadened