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The turtle is a reptile because it shares the following characteristics with other reptiles:

  • It has scaly skin. It does not have smooth, moist skin like an amphibian.
  • It breathes through lungs. Only adult amphibians breathe through lungs. The young use gills and/or a spiracle.
  • Turtles do not undergo metamorphosis from the juvenile to the adult. Only amphibians (among the vertebrates) have this characteristic.

It's most easily defined in how they lay eggs, and how their skin works. Reptiles have scales or rough and sometimes dry skin that keeps them from drying out, while Amphibians need to stay wet all the time and lack scales.

The eggs of reptiles are hard leathery shells that protect the young inside and have an amnion, a membrane covering the embryo . Amphibians lay soft eggs, and the eggs are usually attached to the stems of aquatic plants.

When reptile eggs hatch, the young look like miniature adults. When an amphibian hatches, it usually initially emerges in the form or a tadpole. Tadpoles cannot survive out of water, and as they grow and mature they grow limbs and lose their tails. Amphibians lack scales, having moist, smooth skin, and are typically thought of as water animals.

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9y ago

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