Question

Are turtles ureotelic?

Answer 1

Hint:
- Excess nitrogen is excreted as urea by ureotelic organisms. In addition to ammonia, urea is less toxic and needs less water. Uric acid or its salts are excreted by the uricotelic organism. Uric acid, in comparison to ammonia and urea, is the least poisonous and the least water-soluble of the two.
- Cartilage fish, a few bony fishes, adult amphibians, and mammals, including humans, are all ureotelic species.

Complete answer:
- Ureotelic species are semi-terrestrial mammals and amphibians that excrete urea as a waste product.
- Cartilage fish, a few bony fishes, adult amphibians, and mammals, including humans, are all ureotelic species.
- Urea is a less toxic agent than ammonia since it eliminates two nitrogen atoms and needs less water to excrete. It takes 0.05 L of water to excrete 1 g of nitrogen, which is just around 10% of what ammonotelic organisms need.
- The nitrogenous waste of an ammonotelic organism is excreted as soluble ammonia. The ammonia produced as a byproduct or waste is extremely toxic. Since it is highly soluble, it necessitates a large amount of water for excretion.
- Ammonotelic organisms include protozoans, crustaceans, Platyhelminthes, cnidarians, poriferans, echinoderms, fishes, and amphibian larvae/tadpoles.

Thus from the above discussion, it can be concluded that the majority of turtles are ammonotelic (marine). Tortoises, on the other hand, are uricotelic (as they need to preserve water).

Note:
- Turtles are one of the world's oldest reptile species, outliving snakes, crocodiles, and alligators.
- Sea turtles lay their eggs in a sand nest that they build with their back flippers. A clutch is a set of eggs. - They normally lay 100-125 eggs per nest and will nest several times over the course of several months, about two weeks apart. The hatchlings dig out of their nest as soon as the eggs hatch. This procedure usually takes a few days to complete. The tiny turtles dash to the sea and make their way offshore into the open ocean as soon as they emerge.