Question

What challenges to solute concentration and/or water gains and losses does Loggerhead turtle experience? (I am looking for you describe why it might be difficult for an animal to live in this particular environment when considering its solute and water balance.)

How does the Loggerhead turtle deal with this challenge? (You should try to describe the general process as best you can in your own words. I am looking for our understanding of how this organism meets its environmental challenges with regards to solute and water balance.)

What anatomical structures are involved in meeting this challenge? (pictures are necessary)

What physiological processes are involved in meeting this challenge? (diagrams and illustrations will be very helpful. This is where you should be very specific about what happens in the body to balance solutes and/or water.)

Answer 1

Loggerhead turtles live in saltwater and estuaries, only coming ashore to lay eggs. It is an extreme type of environment since only saltwater is avaible for drinking and living in, so the body of the organism has to adapt and find a way to remove excess salt (present in drinking water) from the body and also to avoid the cells of the organism from shrinking due to osmosis (as a higher concentration of salt is present outside the cells in comparison to the organism's body).

To avoid the above stated problems and make the best of their habitat, loggerhead turtles have various adaptations. Loggerhead turtles metabolize sea/ocean water and store the salt in salt glands present near their eyes, through which they excrete the excess salt. This excretion process also helps the females keep their eyes free of sand while digging their nests on the shores. Furthermore, turtles, being reptiles, have a selectively permeable thick skin which avoids the process of osmosis to occur between the organism and the water body surrounding it.