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
Turtle shell the turtle shell. Embryological analyses show that the carapacial ridge initiates the formation of the turtle shell. It causes axial arrest which causes the ribs to be dorsalized, the shoulder girdle to be rearranged and encapsulated in the rib cage, and the carapace to develop. "O. semitestacea" presents evidence of axial arrest that is observed in embryos but lacks fan-shaped ribs and a carapace. This suggests that the primitive carapacial ridge functioned differently and must have gained the function of mediating the ribs and carapace development later. The plastron is the nearly flat part of the shell structure of a