What’s the Difference Between Turtles and Tortoises?
Did you know that tortoises are turtles, but not all turtles are tortoises ? Most people use the term “turtle” to reference any reptile with a shell on its back, but there’s several differences between these two unique creatures.
Tortoises have more rounded and domed shells where turtles have thinner, more water-dynamic shells. Turtle shells are more streamlined to aid in swimming.
One major key difference is that tortoises spend most of their time on land and turtles are adapted for life spent in water.
Tortoises have club-like forelegs and ‘elephantine’ hind legs. Because tortoise are often larger and heavier, their elephantine hind legs help them move around and carry the extra weight!
Turtles will have more flipper like legs, or webbed feet to make it easier to cruise through the water.
Labradorite is a feldspar mineral of the plagioclase series that is most often found in mafic igneous rocks such as basalt, gabbro, and norite. It is also found in anorthosite, an igneous rock in which labradorite can be the most abundant mineral.
Some specimens of labradorite exhibit a schiller effect, which is a strong play of iridescent blue, green, red, orange, and yellow colors as shown in the photographs. Labradorite is so well known for these spectacular displays of color that the phenomenon is known as “labradorescence.”
https://www.nashvillezoo.org/our-blog/posts/turtles-vs-tortoises
Labradorescence
https://geology.com/gemstones/labradorite/
Shimmer