What was so bad about a shell, anyway? Turtles had survived on earth more than two hundred million years—longer than snakes or crocodiles, even. And turtles lived a long time, too. American box turtles lived to be over a hundred, and they had excellent eyesight and senses of smell. Turtles truly were extraordinary animals. What if people had forced turtles to come out of their shells two hundred million years ago? They probably wouldn’t exist anymore.
