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“Try to be like the turtle – at ease in your own shell.”
– Bill Copeland (poet, writer, and historian) –
If you spent your childhood age in 1990’s era, turtle maybe a familiar word for you because they probably are your idol’s character: Ninja Turtles. Turtle is almost similar with terrapin and tortoise because they come from the same family, e.g. chelonid. However, turtle spends their most lifetime in the sea. They go to the land only to keep their eggs. Meanwhile, the terrapin spends most of their time in the freshwater and the tortoise in the land. Turtle, and also terrapin and tortoise, have a hard shield on their back to protect themselves from a predator. This is, probably, the answer for the question: how can they still exist for more than 220 million years? The God’s Almighty is the answer too, of course. Furthermore, these following points are some cool turtle facts you have to know. Check them out!
1. Shield
Shield – Photo via www.willowhousechronicles.wordpress.com
Turtle’s backs are called as carapaces and is made from up of 60 different bones which are all connected together. These bones, then, are covered with plates that strengthen the shell. It acts as a shield that protect the turtle from predators. There are various shapes of turtle’s shield, too. From helmet shield which looks like a helmet, alligator, soft-shell turtle, until the shield without the shell.
2. Drink
Drink – Photo via www.commons.wikimedia.org
Turtle lives in the sea which is the kind of the saltwater. Then, do you ever think how do they drink? Do they drink the saltwater? If they do, why don’t they become dehydrated? Yeah, because they live under the sea, of course, they drink that saltwater. But, it doesn’t mean that their body absorb the salt that will make them dehydrated. They have special glands that help them to remove salt from the water.
3. The Crying Turtle
The Crying Turtle – Photo via www.imgur.com
Whenever we see the fresh turtle, we will see their wet eyes. Their eyes are glazed as if they want to cry. Sometimes, we will see them cry too. From the previous point, we know that turtle has a special gland that help them to filter the salt from their drink. Moreover, after this filtering process is done, they excrete the salt through their eyes. That’s why turtle always seems like crying.
4. The Seaman
The Seaman – Photo via www.harlequinhotelsandresorts.wordpress.com
The true habitat of the turtle is the sea. However, the female turtle will go to the land when the time is coming to lay their eggs. Meanwhile, because the male turtle won’t lay any eggs, therefore, since they reach the sea just after their birth, they never go to the land anymore.
5. The Homeland
The Homeland – Photo via www.ecotravelmexico.com
Not only a human who has a homeland, but also a turtle. When the female turtle lays their eggs, they always keep those eggs in the same land. They struggle to do this, even by migrating for thousand miles, just to get back to the same place to lay their eggs. This reproduction process will be repeated every two or three years, then they back to their homeland every two or three years.
6. Temperature and Sexuality
Temperature and Sexuality – Photo via www.seaturtleexploration.com
Some scientists noticed that there is a relationship between temperature and baby turtle’s gender. The warm temperature will give us the female baby turtle. Contrary, the cold temperature will make the male one.
7. Turtle is Everywhere
Turtle is Everywhere – Photo via www.dnaindia.com
We can find a turtle in all continent, except Antarctica. They can’t compromise with the cold temperature in Antarctica.
8. Great Senses
Great Senses – Photo via www.digitaljournal.com
Commonly, fauna has an excellence in a sense only. For example, a bat has a very bad eyesight but they have a very good hearing. Or a dog, they are excellent in smelling. However, almost all turtle’s sense is excellent. A turtle has a good eyesight, excellent sense of smell, and also good hearing too. Their touch is good too, even their shell contains the nerves. This is really unique facts about the turtle.
9. The Way Turtle Breathes
The Way Turtle Breathes – Photos via www.en.wikipedia.org
For other underwater animals, most of us already know how do they breathe. Fish use their gill, then a whale, dolphin, and shark use the lungs. How about turtles? They breathe using skin on their neck and cloacal area.
10. They are Endanger!
They are Endanger! – Photos via www.sites.google.com
Turtle is known for its nutritious meat, too. Some people hunt the turtles and their eggs for food. It makes them become rare, and now their status are endangered. Then human give the high contribution in this threat of extinction.
Those are the unique facts about turtle which are really amazing and maybe we never imagine before. It supposed to make us more glorify to the God’s majesty. It also reminds us to be more friendly with our environment and to participate in turtle preservation effort.
“’Changes in Latitudes’ began when I was looking at a photograph of a sea turtle swimming underwater. I had such a strong feeling for the beauty of this ancient creature, at home in the sea. On the spot, I wanted to swim with that turtle. I began to imagine a character who would do just that.”
– Will Hobbs (book’s author)-
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