Surprising Facts About Turtles

Hard with their innocent and defenseless images lying under their shells turtlesFor some of us, it may be the cutest sea creature. Turtles, which we know to be quite slow, actually have many features that you do not know.

From their special diet, some species have even been known to see dinosaurs. Some sea ​​turtles It is even known that they have lived for more than 100 million years. In short, there may be a lot of things you don’t know about turtles. In this article turtles We’ve compiled some unknown or little-known things about you.

11 surprising facts about turtles

• turtles cry

• They have various diets of their own.

• Sea turtles are one of the most antisocial animals

• More than 350 types

• they live long

• They may even weigh a thousand pounds.

• they hold their breath

• Temperature determines the sex of the turtle

• turtles lay eggs

• Turtles love light

• Tortoises and turtles are not the same, the tortoise is a species of turtle.

turtles cry

One sea ​​turtle If you have had the opportunity to observe it outside of the water, you must have noticed that tears were flowing from your eyes. Like many animals, sea turtles do not cry because they are hurt or sad. Mostly in the body too much salt They use their tears to throw it away.

Turtles’ tear glands are located behind their eyes. At the same time this tears It protects the eyes of our lovely friends from the sand. Even though we can’t see it in the water, we can notice the tears when they come ashore.

They have various diets of their own.

turtles It belongs to the group of animals that we can call selective about food. Turtles are generally known as omnivores. However, some species are also known to be herbivores.

omnivorous turtles living in water, jellyfishThey feed on squid, mollusks and seagrass. In addition, land-based turtles They also feed mainly on greens and grasses.

Sea turtles are one of the most antisocial animals

Turtles don’t care much about social life. Offspring born out of water are usually until they mate when they reach the water. alone They prefer to stay.

Turtles have almost no maternal feeding instincts. Mom tortoise Although she camouflages the nest and takes care to protect her young, it cannot be said that she has done anything in the name of motherhood. Even come back after making the nest puppies They don’t even look to see if it’s okay.

There are more than 350 types

Although they are thought to be under a single species because they are all very similar in appearance, turtles are actually unique from each other. from 350 has many different types.

For example; hawkbill, leather back, straight back, red ears and African side necks turtles We can cite a few examples. In general, what determines species between turtles is their physical characteristics.

They can even weigh a thousand kilos.

size of turtles 2.30 with 150 cm It can be as huge as a meter. At the same time 800-900 from 30 kilos They can also gain weight. Leatherback sea turtles are known to be the largest living turtle species and can weigh up to almost 1000 kilos, which is pretty scary for a turtle.

The largest tortoise that ever lived lived 100 million years ago, 21 ft. so exactly 6 and a half meters measured in size. It is known that these tortoises, called Archelon, became extinct a long time ago.

they hold their breath

turtles they don’t actually breathe as we think and they don’t have gills. These creatures have the ability to hold their breath for 7-8 hours or even longer, and this makes them quite unique. They can do almost anything underwater. They sleep, they feed, they roam briefly underwater. from fish no difference, except, of course, that they don’t have gills.

Despite their incredible breath-holding abilities, turtles can drown. In fact, this is a common occurrence for turtles. Choking is usually of turtles due to being caught in a fishing line or not being able to go up to get air. There may also be cases of consuming more oxygen than stress when they are caught on a fishing line.

Temperature determines the sex of the turtle

Although it sounds very interesting, the sex of turtles depends on temperature. directly connected, The nest temperature for a male offspring must be low, for a female it must be warm, and the sex of the offspring can be mixed in temperature fluctuations.

Global warming It is known that the number of male turtle offspring has decreased considerably recently. This is actually of turtles It could be a sign that their lineage is not very secure.

Turtles are brooding

Yes, turtles is laying eggs. Although there is no mother-daughter relationship with her offspring, the mother turtles She cares about the safety of her fry eggs and incubates them. Female sea turtles come ashore to mate and lay eggs in the sea and build a warm safe nest for their young.

Land turtles, as we know, mate on land. Yeah it’s weird when mating sounds It is true that they do, but unless they are injured or sick, turtles are known as silent creatures.

Turtles love light

Turtles are just like flies. photic known as living things. They always swim towards the light in the sea, and the light that accompanies them at night is reflected in the sea. Moonlight known as. They use the moonlight as a guide in walking from land to sea.

But these features can have very deadly consequences for them because of us humans. Turtles can become confused and stray from their path due to artificial lights. So many times sea ​​turtles, They can travel many kilometers from the sea.

Tortoises and turtles are not the same, the tortoise is a species of turtle.

Even though they seem the same tortoise In fact, it is known as a land-dwelling species of sea turtle. The bodies of tortoises are mostly hard, dry and evolves to survive in land conditions.

It is known that sea turtles have a structure that allows them to move quickly and stay in the water for a long time. capacities of course it changes.

turtles Although they are strong, cute creatures that can adapt to many conditions, their lives are in danger for many reasons. to these dangers smugglingMany examples can be given, such as the occupation of natural habitats by trade.