Turtles and — Architectural Engineering?

Here's an understatement: turtles do not feel the need for speed. Many of us like to see the armored vehicles lumbering along (and even helping them get across the road, but make sure you don't get hit by traffic when doing your good deed), or admiring their markings. Their design (such as box turtles having their own "antifreeze") is quite interesting, as well.

Box Turtle / Valley Forge National Park / US National Park Service

The shells of these critters are not miniature army helmets. Instead, the Master Architect included many features similar to (and superior in many ways) advanced designs by human engineers.

Unlike most reptiles, which escape danger by hiding or running, turtles carry around a protective shield and home all rolled into one. No other vertebrate does anything quite like this. A portable home requires special architectural designs—not just on the inside but for the whole body plan.

I prefer to think of turtles as walking cathedrals, temples that honor the Creator’s architectural skill, built long before Christopher Wren ever conceived of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.

You can read the rest of the article in full context by clicking on "Walking Cathedrals".