10 ‘tur-tolly’ mind-blowing facts about turtles
Turtles are absolutely amazing creatures. Did you know that sea turtles can hold their breath for five hours and some swim nearly a marathon every day? Read this article for other fascinating turtle facts.
TURTLES come in all shapes and sizes and live in a number of different environments. From the giant, slow-moving tortoises to the nimble strokes of a sea turtle gliding through the ocean – check out these ten totally awesome turtle facts!
Turtle or tortoise
‘Turtle’ is the umbrella term for all 200 types of turtles, tortoises and terrapins. Turtles are great swimmers. Aquatic turtles, like musk turtles, have webbed feet and live in lakes and swampy ponds. Marine (sea) turtles are found in oceans and have flippers. Tortoises live on land and have feet like a little elephant. Tortoises can’t swim and are popular pets, especially the Hermann’s tortoise and Horsefield tortoise.
Their bones are on the outside
A turtle shell is not a single piece but made of over 50 bones fused together. They wear most of their bones on the outside! The top part of the shell is called the carapace and the underside is a plastron. Both sides are joined by a bridge. All marine and aquatic turtle bones are spongy and light, to help them float.
Also read: From death’s door – turtle rehabilitated and released
Turtles are reptiles
Like other reptiles, turtles are cold-blooded. This means that their body temperature changes based on how warm or cold it is outside. They live in many different habitats across the world, including coral reefs, seagrass beds and mangrove swamps.
Turtles love to travel
Marine turtles can migrate incredibly long distances. The longest-known swim is for a female leatherback turtle. She covered nearly 21 000km over 647 days from Indonesia to the west coast of America. That’s over 30km a day!
Turtles don’t have teeth
A turtle uses its beak-like mouth to grasp food. This beak is made of keratin, the same stuff our fingernails are made of. Hatchlings are often omnivores, so they eat animals and plants. Green turtles are vegetarian and prefer seagrasses, seaweeds and algae. Most other turtles snack on fish, molluscs and squids. Leatherbacks love eating jellyfish on their long sea voyages.
Turtles don’t live as long as tortoises
Sea turtles live to about 50 years old while their freshwater cousins reach 30–40 years. Tortoises are the kings of old age and can live to over 100 years! The world’s oldest tortoise, according to the Guinness World Records, is Tu’i Malila, who lived until the age of 189.
Marine turtles have an amazing sense of direction
Male sea turtles never leave the sea, but females occasionally visit the beach. When it’s time to lay their eggs, females return to the same beach they hatched on! Here they bury their eggs in sandy nests. Scientists think that their amazing ability to navigate comes from their sensitivity to the Earth’s magnetic fields.
Marine turtles face several threats
Marine turtles are particularly at risk of extinction. Only one in around 1 000 babies survive. Many turtle adults and babies are caught in fishing nests while many others mistake plastic for jellyfish and eat it.
Loggerhead turtles have powerful jaws
Loggerhead turtles are named after their large heads that support strong jaw muscles. Clams and sea urchins beware! These powerful jaws crush hard-shelled prey as easily as if they were munching on biscuits. Lucky for loggerhead turtles, they are less likely to be hunted for their meat than other turtles.
Turtles are ancient
Sea turtles have roamed the oceans for the last 100 million years, so they lived alongside the dinosaurs! Aquatic turtles have been around even longer, for about 145 million years. They even survived the mass extinction of the dinosaurs after the meteor hit.
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