Tortoiseshell Tortoiseshell Tortoiseshell or tortoise shell is a material produced from the shells of the larger species of tortoise and turtle, mainly the hawksbill sea turtle, which is an endangered species largely because of its exploitation for the material. The large size, fine colour and unusual form of the hawksbill's scutes make it especially suitable. The distinctive patterning is referred to in names such as the tortoiseshell cat, several breeds of guinea pig, and the common names of several species of the butterfly genera "Nymphalis" and "Aglais", and some other uses. Tortoiseshell was widely used from ancient times in the West
Hawksbill sea turtle the Atlantic. Fitzinger derived the genus' name, "Eretmochelys", from the Greek roots "eretmo" and "chelys", corresponding to "oar" and "turtle", respectively. The name refers to the turtles' oar-like front flippers. The species' name "imbricata" is Latin, corresponding to the English term imbricate. This appropriately describes the turtles' overlapping posterior scutes. The Pacific hawksbill's subspecies name, "bissa", is Latin for "double". The subspecies was originally described as "Caretta bissa"; the term referred to the then-species being the second species in the genus. "Caretta" is the genus of the hawksbill's much larger relative, the loggerhead turtle. Throughout the world, hawksbill sea turtles