Using preserved specimens from Harvard University’s Herpetology collection, as well as live animals, participants in this Harvard Museum of Natural History class on Saturday, November 5 from 9:30 – noon will learn basic turtle anatomy, determine the primary characteristics of the most common turtle families, consider the unique adaptations of some individual species, and view several historically significant specimens. Participants can look closely at iconic specimens, including a Galápagos tortoise collected by a whaler in the Galápagos Islands in 1835, the same year of Charles Darwin’s visit there, and a turtle collected by Henry David Thoreau in Concord, Massachusetts.  Instructor: Joe Martinez, Curatorial Assistant Herpetology Department Museum of Comparative Zoology

Fees: $40 Museum members/$50 nonmembers.  Register online at http://hmnh.harvard.edu/event/turtles-tortoises-and-terrapins-introduction-shelled-reptiles