![]() With very few exceptions (e.g., box turtles), adult turtles cannot survive freezing temperatures they cannot survive having ice crystals in their bodies. When a turtle’s body temperature changes, it’s simply because the environment has become warmer or colder.īut even ectotherms have their limits. We could never pick up enough oxygen across our vascularized surfaces, other than our lungs, to supply the high demand of our metabolic furnaces.įor humans, a change in body temperature is a sign of illness, that something is wrong. When it’s cold out, we pile on clothes to trap metabolic heat and stay warm. We are endotherms - expensive metabolic heat furnaces - that need to constantly fuel our bodies with food to generate body heat and maintain a constant temperature to stay alive and well. (The technical term is cloacal respiration.) See, I wasn’t kidding, turtles really can breathe through their butts. Turtles have one area that is especially well vascularized - their butts. In this way, they can get enough oxygen to support their minimal needs without using their lungs. When turtles hibernate, they rely on stored energy and uptake oxygen from the pond water by moving it across body surfaces that are flush with blood vessels. The colder it gets, the slower its metabolism, which translates into lower energy and oxygen demands. ![]() So, how is it possible for them to survive in a frigid pond with a lid of ice that prevents them from coming up for air? The answer lies in the relationship between body temperature and metabolism.Ī cold turtle in cold water has a slow metabolism. If the pond water is 1℃, so is the turtle’s body.īut turtles have lungs and they breathe air. Plus, you can’t breathe through your butt.īut turtles can, which is just one of the many reasons that turtles are truly awesome.Īs an ectotherm - an animal that relies on an external source of heat - a turtle’s body temperature tracks that of its environment. And by cool I don’t just mean amazing, I mean literally cool, as in cold. What would happen if you were submerged in a pond where the water temperature hovered just above freezing and the surface was capped by a lid of ice for 100 days?Īnd that’s because you’re not as cool as a turtle. Nomenclatural History: The Red-eared Slider has been referred to in the Illinois literature as Chrysemys scripta elegans, Chrysemys elegans, Pseudemys troosti elegans, and Pseudemys elegans, among others.To breathe or not to breathe, that is the question. Type Locality: Not stated for elegans, but listed as “Fox River bei New Harmony” by Weid (1865. Type Specimen: Not designated for elegans. Reise in das innere Nord-America in den Jahren 18: 213. Original Description: for elegans: Wied 1839. Status: Adaptable and exceedingly common in Illinois.Įtymology: Trachemys – trachys (Greek) meaning rough emys (Greek) for ‘freshwater tortoise’ scripta – scriptura (Latin) meaning ‘a writing’ elegans – (Latin) meaning ‘fine or elegant’. 36 x 22 mm) eggs per nest 2-3 times annually. Natural History: Omnivorous, feeds heavily on animal prey when young and becomes more herbivorous with maturation. Common in mud-bottomed sites rich in vegetation and basking structures.
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