The closest relatives to dinosaurs (birds are just dinosaurs) are the crocodilians. The term ‘lizards’ is pretty loose. Although numerous animals, from invertebrates to mammals, have evolved shells, none has an architecture like that of turtles. The word reptile is highly ambiguous. Turtles are more closely related to crocodiles and birds than they are to mammals. Scientists used a new genetic sequencing technique to map relatives As of 2013, three turtle genomes have been sequenced. The reconstructed genome of the common ancestor will be a valuable tool for investigating the evolution of the "archosaurs," the group that includes all dinosaurs, pterosaurs, birds, and crocodilians. I was thinking that turtles heads resemble birds heads, so looked it up: Turtles more closely related to birds than lizards and snakes, gen. Forums . Turtles come from a separate group of reptiles called anapsids. The animals in the reptile clade are not all closely related. Turtles more closely related to birds than to lizards, according to landmark genetic study The turtle evolutionary tree has been hotly debated for decades. Additionally, it is this connection that tends to cause birds to be referred to as reptiles. However, the reptile family tree is quite broad, and birds are more similar to some reptiles than they are to others. Because of this, we often hear feedback from visitors wondering why on earth we have birds at a reptile zoo. Birds are descended from dinosaurs, which, along with lizards, belong to a group of reptiles called diapsids. Shutterstock. Birds and crocodiles are more closely related to each other than they are to turtles. Therefore, birds are not just closely related to dinosaurs, they actually are dinosaurs. (Crocodilians are actually more closely related to birds and dinosaurs than they are to other reptiles, i.e., lizards, snakes, and turtles.) ... read on. Crocodiles, pterosaurs, and dinosaurs are all part of the group Archosauria. Molecular work has usually placed turtles within the diapsids. According to California Academy of Sciences and Cal State Fullerton researchers, turtles are more closely related to birds, crocodiles, and … Because birds descended from a group of theropod dinosaurs, they are in fact reptiles themselves. Turtles More Closely Related To Birds Than Lizards And Snakes, Researchers Say November, 24, 2014. Snakes evolved from lizards. Modern Classification of Birds The relationship between dinosaurs and birds is clear to biologists at this point. Turtles are related to BIRDS: 'Tree of life' genetic sequencing reveals reptiles' distant and unexpected relatives. How Birds and Reptiles are Related Here at the zoo, we specialize in reptiles and amphibians, and that includes exhibits with emus and parakeets. The results place turtles as a sister clade to the archosaurs, the group that includes crocodiles, dinosaurs, and birds. Classically, turtles were considered to be related to the primitive anapsid reptiles. The turtle shell has a top and a bottom . However, the modern definition of reptiles generally refers to tetrapods such as crocodiles, lizards, turtles, and tuataras. Reptile is a grade, not a clade. Birds, more or less. Birds and reptiles share a number of characteristics, including scaly integuments, skeletal system details and methods of reproduction. Turtle, (order Testudines), any reptile with a body encased in a bony shell, including tortoises. In terms of lineage, yes.