rhamphotheca:

animalworld: CANTOR’S GIANT SOFTSHELL TURTLE

Instead of an exterior shell commonly associated with turtles, the Cantor’s giant softshell turtle has a rubbery skin with ribs fused together to form a protective layer over the internal organs. To protect itself from predators, the turtle spends 95 percent of its life hidden in sand or mud with only its eyes and nose showing. It possesses long claws and can extend its neck with lightning speed to bite with jaws powerful enough to crush bone. ‘It has the fastest strike of any animal I’ve ever seen, including cobras,’ — David Emmett Conservation International.

Cantor’s giant softshell turtles can grow up to 2 meters (6 feet) in length and weigh more than 50 kilograms (110 pounds). Only a few records of the species exist for Laos, and it appears to have disappeared across much of its former range in Vietnam and Thailand.

Fact Source: http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/cantors-softshell.html#cr

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    CANTOR’S GIANT SOFT SHELLED TURTLE WHAT THE BALLLS
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    CANTOR’S GIANT SOFT SHELLED TURTLE
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Post Info

  • Notes: 32
  • Posted: 01 September 2012
  • Reblogged from: animalworld

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