Symbolism: Associated with countries and regions | Associated with sport | Miscellaneous
001 – Publication of the first comprehensive work about turtles, “A Monograph of the Testudinata” by Thomas Bell, began in 1832.
Sources: Źródło, ibrary.si.edu, A Monograph of the Testudinata w play.google.com
002 – In the fossil mine in Messel (Germany), fossils of nine pairs of turtles during sex were found .
Sources: Wikipedia, livescience.com
003 – The hawksbill turtle is one of the few animals (and the only reptile) whose diet consists mainly of sponges.
Sources: Wikipedia, ncbi.nlm.nih.gov – Spongivory in hawksbill turtles: a diet of glass.
004 – Chelonitoxism is the name for food poisoning that can occur from eating turtle meat (Hawksbills and Green turtles). There is no antidote to it, so poisoning (especially for weaker organisms, especially children and the elderly) CAN be fatal.
Sources: Wikipedia, turtle-foundation.org
005 – The largest ever living species of turtle was Archelon ischyros, up to four meters long and almost five meters wide (with “flippers” outstretched).
Sources: Wikipedia, Wikipedia, prehistoric-wildlife.com
006 Some turtles got their Latin names “in honor of someone”:
– Irwin’s turtle (Elseya irwini) in honor of (co-discoverer) Steve Irwin,
– Psephophorus terrypratchetti in honor of Terry Pratchett,
– Pelochelys cantorii in honor of Theodore Edward Cantor,
– Popculturally, Ninjemys oweni is named after ninja turtles,
– Sinemys gamera is a rather obvious reference to Gamera.
Sources: Wikipedia, Wikipedia., amnh.org, Wikipedia, fossilworks.org, ucr.edu, Zaprzeczenie Klaudiusza w Tuyrtles of MExico, Wikipedia, curioustaxonomy.net, The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles w serwisie googlebooks, Wikipedia
007 – Eoacanthocephala is a parasite that feeds on cold-blooded aquatic creatures, such as turtles.
Sources: Wikipedia, Ecology of the Acanthocephala w googlebooks
008 – Thanks to the Cystoscopy procedure and the fact that the turtle’s urinary bladder is thin and other organs can be “seen” through it, it is possible to confidently determine the sex of young turtles, whose external features do not allow it yet.
Sources: Wikipedia, Clinical Applications of Cystoscopy in Chelonians w researchgate.net
Gender Identification by Cloacoscopy and Cystoscopy in Juvenile Chelonians w researchgate.net
009 – The species “Dosima fascicularis” was found to inhabit the surface of turtle shells.
Sources: Wikipedia, seaturtle.org
