Turtle Race: Boys vs. Girls

ok in the spirit of "shellebrating" World Turtle Day, i've created this game - Turtle Race!




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ok there are 2 teams, boys and girls. boys are red and girls are purple. boy turtle = O and girl team's turtle = O.


your turtles above need to move ten feet to win the race. this - = 1 feet.


this is an educational game. your team's turtles get to move a whole foot if u post and share a cool fact about tortoises and turtles.


i will check in after a few posts to update the turtles progression in the race. ex. this turtle moved 2 feet: - - O - - - - - - - -

the first team turtle to reach the finish line I wins Turtle Race!

happy WTD!

ready. get set! GO!

girl team GO!

likely the oldest pet to ever exist is Adwaita the Aldabra tortise! he outlived his owner and was moved to a zoo in india where he lived out the rest of his days until he passed away in 2006 a the ripe old age of 255 years old.

Quote:

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"According to records in the zoo, the age of the giant tortoise, Addwaita, who died on Wednesday, would be 250 years approximately," said zoo director Subir Chowdhury.

The zoo wants to carbon date his shell to determine exactly how old he was.


Addwaita arrived in the zoo in 1875. Zoo officials say he was one of four tortoises brought to India by British sailors from the Seychelle islands as a gift for Lord Robert Clive of the East India Company. Clive was instrumental in establishing British colonial rule in India, before he returned to England in 1767.


While the other three tortoises died, Addwaita reportedly thrived, living in Clive's garden before being moved to the zoo.


Aldabra tortoises come from the Aldabra atoll in the Seychelle islands in the Indian Ocean, and often live to more than 100 years of age. Males can weigh up to 550 pounds.


According to local Forest Minister Jogesh Burman, Addwaita, the zoo's biggest attraction, had been unwell for the last few days.

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article here: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/250-yea...dies-in-india/

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...-the-world.jpghttps://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...-the-world.jpghttps://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...xBRpD5dPR6MFLB
a pic of Adwaita at the Zoological Gardens of Kolkata in India, where he lived until passing away at 255 years of age.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...-TuiMalila.jpgA photo of the tortoise's preserved body, 2002.
Species	Geochelone radiata
Born	c. 1777 Madagascar
Died	19 May 1965 (aged 188) Tonga
Resting place	Royal Palace of Tonga
Known for	Longest-lived tortoise whose age has been verified.

Tu'i Malila (1777 – 1965) was a tortoise that Captain James Cook was traditionally said to have given to the royal family of Tonga. It was a female radiated tortoise (Geochelone radiata) from Madagascar and is the longest-lived tortoise whose age has been verified.
The name means King Malila in the Tongan language. Tu'i Malila was hatched around 1777 and then given by Captain Cook to the Tongan royal family upon his visit to Tonga in July 1777. According to other sources, George Tupou I obtained it from a vessel which called in Haapai in the first half of the 19th century.
Tu'i Malila remained in their care until death on 19 May 1965 due to natural causes. The tortoise was estimated to be 188 years old at this time. During Queen Elizabeth II's Royal Tour of Tonga in 1953, Tu'i Malila was one of the first animals shown to the monarch on her official visit to the island nation.
The body of the tortoise is kept at the Royal Palace of Tonga.

Darn she beat me lol. Oh well, off to google more fun facts. No work getting done today...

Ok here's another fact:

The Asian Turtle Program of Indo-Myanmar Conservation, Washington State University, and Turtle Survival Alliance are very excited to announce the confirmation of a Yangtze Giant Softshell Turtle (Rafetus swinhoei) living in a lake outside of Hanoi, Vietnam! The now-confirmed specimen increases the global population of the world's rarest turtle, and unarguably one of the Earth's rarest animals, to four.

http://www.turtlesurvival.org/blog/1-blog/535-worlds-rarest-turtle-discovered-in-vietnam#.WwWp4YgvyUk

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i'll accept 1 fact from Avsha. two facts, one from each team and the race is tied!

FYI - u cannot post a fact for your team twice in a row. another member of your team needs to post again before u can.


Edit: immabout to go into a meeting here @ 11a and update later unless another non-partisan player wants to ref and update the race.

The Eastern Long-Neck turtle!!! these guys are found in Australia, and they have a weirdly long neck that allows them to strike and grab prey.
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach..._of_female.jpg

DID U KNO? when threatened, they use glands in their armpits and groin to let out a very smelly odor that puts off predators!

more info here: https://australianmuseum.net.au/east...-necked-turtle

Taylor and Avsha, another boy or girl needs to post a fact before u can post again. but u can have your fact researched and ready. it's a team game and i expected it to be a slow race. ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ax01

Taylor and Avsha, another boy or girl needs to post a fact before u can post again. but u can have your fact researched and ready. it's a team game and i expected it to be a slow race. ;)

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thanks for clarifying. can i post my same fact after another poster shares one? or is mine now off limits?
^{_{(I LOVE THIS BTW)}}

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ax01

Taylor and Avsha, another boy or girl needs to post a fact before u can post again. but u can have your fact researched and ready. it's a team game and i expected it to be a slow race. ;)

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by tttaylorrr

thanks for clarifying. can i post my same fact after another poster shares one? or is mine now off limits?
^{_{(I LOVE THIS BTW)}}

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sure why not!

(i'm totally not making this up as it goes along. ;) but i think that's all the rules we need.)


Edit: still tied! wow these turtles are slow! lol! needanother boy or girl to post a fact to move a turtle!

Don't know if this is still true as to the oldest but here goes a try.

ADWAITA THE TORTOISE (1750-2006)Even with the long life expectancy of giant tortoises, an Aldabra Giant Tortoise named Adwaita blows all others away with a life lasting around 255 years. Estimates put his birth date around 1750, making him an entire generation older than the United States of America. The tortoise was originally owned by a man named General Robert Clive, an important member of the East India Company, who got addicted to opium and killed himself in 1774. Barely a toddler at that time, Adwaita bummed around for a bit before eventually being transferred to an Indian zoo in 1875, where he spent the rest of his life eating and...that's pretty much it. After his death in 2006, carbon dating on his shell confirmed his age, making him quite possibly the oldest living creature ever, and almost certainly the oldest living vertebrate.

According to the website of the National Museum of Wales, the largest turtle on record measured almost nine feet in length and weighed 2,016 pounds. That beast, which washed ashore in 1988, is believed to have been about 100 years old when it died.

Such a shame, if they didn't powerfeed it, it could have lived to 300...:P

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Skyrivers

Don't know if this is still true as to the oldest but here goes a try.

ADWAITA THE TORTOISE (1750-2006)Even with the long life expectancy of giant tortoises, an Aldabra Giant Tortoise named Adwaita blows all others away with a life lasting around 255 years. Estimates put his birth date around 1750, making him an entire generation older than the United States of America. The tortoise was originally owned by a man named General Robert Clive, an important member of the East India Company, who got addicted to opium and killed himself in 1774. Barely a toddler at that time, Adwaita bummed around for a bit before eventually being transferred to an Indian zoo in 1875, where he spent the rest of his life eating and...that's pretty much it. After his death in 2006, carbon dating on his shell confirmed his age, making him quite possibly the oldest living creature ever, and almost certainly the oldest living vertebrate.

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Taylor already posted this fact.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Skyrivers

According to the website of the National Museum of Wales, the largest turtle on record measured almost nine feet in length and weighed 2,016 pounds. That beast, which washed ashore in 1988, is believed to have been about 100 years old when it died.

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i'll accept this one.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Avsha531

Such a shame, if they didn't powerfeed it, it could have lived to 300...:P

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not proven, not a fact. ;)


still the boys are in the lead!

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Edit: i'm going to lunch and then i'll be screening/grading intern applications for a few hours but will have my laptop on in the background and will check-in on this exciting turtle race!

where are my ladies at!? :(

From personal experience-

A warning for you odd ducks that may have a stuffed turtle.

Keep it high enough so that your dog(s) can not get to it and use it as a chew toy.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...c1534bfabc.jpg

The neck inflicted damage as well as the shell at 7 o’clock.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...be7b0b135a.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...a104693d52.jpg

Yeah, kind of gross.

When sea turtles are babies, crabs eat them. When sea turtles are adults, they eat crabs.

2 interesting turtle facts from the boys! girls (or Taylor) is eating seriously turtle dust now!

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The Chinese Soft-Shell turtle excretes urine from its mouth, which allows it to survive in briny water. This is the only animal ever observed to do so

Australia has a turtle known as the bum-breathering turtle (Rheodytes leukops) which is the only amniote to lay its eggs submerged in water. They nest in the middle of bodies of water right as the dry season begins. Thus when the eggs hatch the baby turtles are on land.

That's for the girls

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tttaylorrr

The Eastern Long-Neck turtle!!! these guys are found in Australia, and they have a weirdly long neck that allows them to strike and grab prey.
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach..._of_female.jpg

DID U KNO? when threatened, they use glands in their armpits and groin to let out a very smelly odor that puts off predators!

more info here: https://australianmuseum.net.au/east...-necked-turtle

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The mata mata or Chelus fimbriata feeds through a method known as implosion feeding where they create a suction force that sucks in fish.

turtles are among the most threatened groups of animals on the planet!

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Of the 207 species of turtle and tortoise alive today, 129 of them are listed by IUCN as vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered. That's an incredible 62% of the species!

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link: https://www.turtleconservancy.org/about/

Way to go girls! :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Avsha531

The Chinese Soft-Shell turtle excretes urine from its mouth, which allows it to survive in briny water. This is the only animal ever observed to do so

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Timelugia

Australia has a turtle known as the bum-breathering turtle (Rheodytes leukops) which is the only amniote to lay its eggs submerged in water. They nest in the middle of bodies of water right as the dry season begins. Thus when the eggs hatch the baby turtles are on land.

That's for the girls

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the race is heating up!

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3 fun Chelonia facts from Taylor, T.Lugia and Taylor! girls and boys are tied!

:O

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Let's go guys, need someone to post before I can post again...

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Originally Posted by Avsha531

Let's go guys, need someone to post before I can post again...

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no!!!

c'mon ladies! :w00t:

There is a strange Herpes virus causing tumor growths in sea turtles along the Texas coast.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...dfb5002151.jpg
Sorry, I can’t do links on an iPad.

I never even knew that we had sea turtles. Due to the water being so filthy like lake water, Galveston area that is. You can only see your hand a few inches beneath the water. Maybe it’s cleaner at Padre Island, IDK.

The Wildlife people catch the infected Sea Turtles and Veterinarians surgically remove the tumors.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...d1fa66e937.jpg
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The turtles lay clutches of eggs counting from 80-120. They are removed from the beaches for safety and incubated and then released.

Baby sea turtles find the ocean by detecting the light that bounces off the surface. This is why some areas have laws preventing houses on the beach from leaving their porch lights on during hatching season as the house lights can confuse the baby turtles

sea turtles LOVE to travel! the Leatherback sea turtle can travel more than 10,000 miles every year between foraging grounds.

1 gross seaturtle fact and 2 fun seaturtle facts. girl turtle power takes their first lead!

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This is the Mary River Turtle, also known as the punk rock turtle due to the algae which grows on its head. That is one hardcore bada** reptile :)
https://listverse.com/wp-content/upl...9316214231.jpg

From wikipedia:

Turtle fossils of hatchling and nestling size have been documented in the scientific literature.[66] Paleontologists from North Carolina State University have found the fossilized remains of the world's largest turtle in a coal mine in Colombia. The specimen named as Carbonemys cofrinii is around 60 million years old and nearly 2.4 m (8 ft) long.[67]

In 2005, the holotype specimen was discovered in the Cerrejón coal mine by a North Carolina State University doctoral student named Edwin Cadena. It had a shell that measured about 1.72 metres (5 ft 8 in), making it one of the world's largest turtles.[2][3]

The jaws of Carbonemys were massive and would be powerful enough to eat crocodylians, that were abundant in the first neotropical forest of the Cerrejón Formation.[4] This turtle coexisted with the giant boid, Titanoboa.

Leatherbacks are neat animals!

DID U KNO? the Leatherback sea turtle has a third eye! well not really...the Leatherback has a lightly pink spot on the top of its head directly above their brain. this spot is so thin that it is thought that this spot allows light to reach the pineal gland which may be used for migration.

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The pineal gland is an endocrine gland found in vertebrates which affects wake/sleep patterns and functions to signal day length. This combined with a change in temperature can signal a change in day length and season which indicates migration time.

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https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...e-used-for.png

link: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart...lls-180952703/

The flesh of turtles, calipash or calipee, was and still is considered a delicacy in a number of cultures.[77] Turtle soup has been a prized dish in Anglo-American cuisine,[78] and still remains so in some parts of Asia.[which?] Gopher tortoise stew was popular with some groups in Florida.[79]

Turtles remain a part of the traditional diet on the island of Grand Cayman, so much so that when wild stocks became depleted, a turtle farm was established specifically to raise sea turtles for their meat. The farm also releases specimens to the wild as part of an effort to repopulate the Caribbean Sea.[80]

Fat from turtles is also used in the Caribbean and in Mexico as a main ingredient in cosmetics, marketed under its Spanish name crema de tortuga.[81]

Turtle plastrons (the part of the shell that covers a tortoise from the bottom) are widely used in traditional Chinese medicine; according to statistics, Taiwan imports hundreds of tons of plastrons every year.[82] A popular medicinal preparation based on powdered turtle plastron (and a variety of herbs) is the guilinggao jelly;[83] these days, though, it is typically made with only herbal ingredients.

it's raining women! because of climate change.

the sex of a sea turtle is not determined by chromosomes, but by incubation temperature! as climate change continues to warm most of the planet, its impact is having a huge effect on sea turtle populations and resulting in lots of female babies:

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Out of a population of about 200,000 turtles, scientists found that 99.1 percent of juveniles were female, 99.8 percent of subadults and 86.8 percent of the entire population was female. Southern populations of turtles in Australia, which live on cooler beaches, show much lower impact. There, researchers found the ratio was about 65 to 69 percent female turtles.

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this isn't going to have a huge impact on turtle populations, but scientists say it can!

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But eventually, there may be consequences. “Oh yes, there are a few males remaining, and there will be for decades to come,” sea turtle researcher David Owens, professor emeritus at College of Charleston tells Guarino. “But they will eventually die off. I predict that very soon the [northern Great Barrier Reef] population will start to see reduced fertility at the nesting beach if it is not already happening.”

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link: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart...les-180967780/

TurtleSAt is a smartphone app that has been developed in Australia in honor of World Turtle Day to help in the conservation of fresh water turtles in Australia. The app will allow the user to identify turtles with a picture guide and the location of turtles using the phones GPS to record sightings and help find hidden turtle nesting grounds. The app has been developed because there has been a high per cent of decline of fresh water turtles in Australia due to foxes, droughts, and urban development. The aim of the app is to reduce the number of foxes and help with targeting feral animal control.

Turtles on Treadmills! For Science!

a cute youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itkAuPubbxI

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But in this modern world, lights are everywhere, and the tiny reptiles can get disoriented and take a more circuitous route to find water. This exhausting venture can sometimes last hours. How does all that exercise affect the little creatures once they make it to water? Researchers at Florida Atlantic University decided to put some baby turtles to the test to figure it out.

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then they got to swim with little swimsuits!!!

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After the workout, the researchers then fitted the turtles into little swimsuits connected to a harness and put them in a tank of water, observing how they swam for two hours. Meanwhile, the researchers measured vital signs like oxygen consumption, glucose, plasma lactate levels as well as the number of swimming strokes they performed.

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https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...uit_turtle.jpg

the results:

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What they found is that the tiny turtles are incredibly tough. “We were completely surprised by the results of this study,” Milton says in the release. “We were expecting that the hatchlings would be really tired from the extended crawling and that they would not be able to swim well.” That turned out not to be the case. “They are, in fact, crawling machines,” she says. “They crawl and rest, crawl and rest and that’s why they weren’t too tired to swim.”

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link: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart...mas-180967639/

This stuff is super interesting....

Researchers have recently discovered a turtle's organs do not gradually break down or become less efficient over time, unlike most other animals. It was found that the liver, lungs, and kidneys of a centenarian turtle are virtually indistinguishable from those of its immature counterpart. This has inspired genetic researchers to begin examining the turtle genome for longevity genes.

All of mine are from wikipedia.... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtle

By the way, a group of turtles is called a bale. I know that won't count, but I have to leave and own't be on the computer much this evening...

SMH guys where you at:tears:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Avsha531

This is the Mary River Turtle, also known as the punk rock turtle due to the algae which grows on its head. That is one hardcore bada** reptile :)
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...9316214231.jpg

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they are also know as "Butt Breathers" LOL! very interesting, endangered turtles.

+1 boys

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ladywhipple02

From wikipedia:

Turtle fossils of hatchling and nestling size have been documented in the scientific literature.[66] Paleontologists from North Carolina State University have found the fossilized remains of the world's largest turtle in a coal mine in Colombia. The specimen named as Carbonemys cofrinii is around 60 million years old and nearly 2.4 m (8 ft) long.[67]

In 2005, the holotype specimen was discovered in the Cerrejón coal mine by a North Carolina State University doctoral student named Edwin Cadena. It had a shell that measured about 1.72 metres (5 ft 8 in), making it one of the world's largest turtles.[2][3]

The jaws of Carbonemys were massive and would be powerful enough to eat crocodylians, that were abundant in the first neotropical forest of the Cerrejón Formation.[4] This turtle coexisted with the giant boid, Titanoboa.

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+ 1 girls



we're almost at the finish line!! girls maintain a slight edge!

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by tttaylorrr

Leatherbacks are neat animals!

DID U KNO? the Leatherback sea turtle has a third eye! well not really...the Leatherback has a lightly pink spot on the top of its head directly above their brain. this spot is so thin that it is thought that this spot allows light to reach the pineal gland which may be used for migration.



https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...e-used-for.png

link: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart...lls-180952703/

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by ladywhipple02

The flesh of turtles, calipash or calipee, was and still is considered a delicacy in a number of cultures.[77] Turtle soup has been a prized dish in Anglo-American cuisine,[78] and still remains so in some parts of Asia.[which?] Gopher tortoise stew was popular with some groups in Florida.[79]

Turtles remain a part of the traditional diet on the island of Grand Cayman, so much so that when wild stocks became depleted, a turtle farm was established specifically to raise sea turtles for their meat. The farm also releases specimens to the wild as part of an effort to repopulate the Caribbean Sea.[80]

Fat from turtles is also used in the Caribbean and in Mexico as a main ingredient in cosmetics, marketed under its Spanish name crema de tortuga.[81]

Turtle plastrons (the part of the shell that covers a tortoise from the bottom) are widely used in traditional Chinese medicine; according to statistics, Taiwan imports hundreds of tons of plastrons every year.[82] A popular medicinal preparation based on powdered turtle plastron (and a variety of herbs) is the guilinggao jelly;[83] these days, though, it is typically made with only herbal ingredients.

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+ 2 for the girls!

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and the Girls Win!!

what an exciting race and come from behind victory!

woooooooooooooo! yay ladies! and yay turtles!!!

:number1: :winner: :trophy:

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...2547267586.jpg

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Originally Posted by Avsha531

SMH guys where you at:tears:

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girls can't be stopped! + 4 more! they're just running away w/ the trophy now! lol

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congratulations to the girl's team and their turtle!

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/9oxHTrh.png




don't worry boys, u do get something that u always wanted - u get to be a Ninja Turtle!

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...c339cb2b0e.jpg

LOL that was fun. Thanks to everyone who contributed with all the fun and interesting information about turtles, and thank you Ax for a great time!

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

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Originally Posted by Avsha531

LOL that was fun. Thanks to everyone who contributed with all the fun and interesting information about turtles, and thank you Ax for a great time!

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yeah Ax this was a blast! i learned a lot, too.

thanks to everyone who joined in!!! and sorry you guys got your butts kicked. ;)

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Originally Posted by tttaylorrr

yeah Ax this was a blast! i learned a lot, too.

thanks to everyone who joined in!!! and sorry you guys got your butts kicked. ;)

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[emoji12][emoji12][emoji12]

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

Congrats girls!