turtles

The article briefly examines the main historical stages of the formation of the turtle system from the first classifications (the 18^th century) to the present day: the pre-evolutionary (? – 1766 – 1870) and evolutionary (1871 – present) ones, and, as part of the latter one, the traditional (1871 – 1975) and phylogenetic (1975 – present) ones.

In order to check the health of individuals of the Mediterranean tortoise Nikolskii Testudo graeca nikolskii Ckhikvadze et Tuniyev, 1986 (22 individuals: 6 males and 16 females) collected in the vicinity of Anapa (Krasnodar region of Russia), a haematological approach was used to assess adaptive blood reactions. Intraerythrocytic parasites Haemogregarina spp. (Adeleorina, Coccidia) were detected in blood smears of 54.5% of turtles.