Turtles and Tortoises Are in Trouble.

Turtles and tortoises (chelonians) have been integral components of global ecosystems for about 220 million years and have played important roles in human culture for at least 400,000 years. The chelonian shell is a remarkable evolutionary adaptation, facilitating success in terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems. Today, more than half of the 360 living species and 482 total taxa (species and subspecies combined) are threatened with extinction.

Ecological correlates and evolutionary divergence in the skull of turtles: a geometric morphometric assessment.

Resource use and phylogeny are often correlated with morphological variation. Moreover, because biological shapes are often complex and evolve depending on several internal constraints, they must be assessed using integrative methods. We analyzed the morphological variation of the turtle skull in the context of an adaptive radiation.

Professional values and informatics: what is the connection?

General practitioners (GPs) need to feel that they are doing a good job in providing care of high quality in a humane manner - that they are "good" doctors. The General Medical Council booklet Good Medical Practice is full of imperatives, but short on values that are the determinants of behaviour. Much has been written on doctors' professional values in the past decade, but it is not easy for individual GPs and teams to define their own values and consider to what extent they live up to them.