Clawed Turtle

Introduction

The clawed turtle (Regulus Testudo Graeca, or, inaccurately translated, Regulus Turtle) is an aquatic omnivorous reptile. It is part of the Cheloniidae family. The clawed turtle population has two major subpopulations, the Indo-Pacific and the Atlantic species. It mostly lives in coral reefs where fish, jellyfish, marine algae, and other parts of their diet that are easily found. The clawed turtle is easily identified by the retractable claws at the end of their front and back legs, unique earth-toned and muddy shell, small razor-sharp teeth, and long legs with elbows to be able to stand up and walk.

The Clawed Turtle species is evolved from the hawksbill turtle species, a species that was listed extremely endangered in the early 21st century. The Hawksbill Turtle was hunted for their uniquely shaped and colored shell, their meat and eggs, and their beaks. This species lived in the coral reef and cannot swim fast, consequently they depend on the fish and plants living in the reefs and the currents in the ocean to bring them food. After being labeled extremely endangered it was made illegal to harvest the meat, shells, and beaks of these turtles, but most illegal harvesting took place in remote locations where legal enforcement was scarce. The Clawed Turtle is a species that’s significantly evolved from the Hawksbill Turtle that it has been identified as a whole new species.

Etymology

The word turtle comes from the French word tortue, which is from a Late Latin word, Tartarucha. Tartarucha is a shortened way to say the Latin phrase, Bestia Tartarucha, meaning “infernal best” or “beast of the nether regions.” This refers to the claws, teeth, and poisonous layer of skin that the Clawed Turtle has, meaning this turtle is more dangerous. The Latin name for the Clawed Turtle is Regulus Testudo Graeca. Testudo Graeca means Greek Tortoise, meaning the Clawed Turtle is a turtle and a tortoise because it is able to walk on land and swim.

Habitat and Population

The Clawed turtle species live among the coral reefs of the Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean, and the Atlantic Ocean. Some can be found in the Mediterranean Sea because they tend to live in warmer temperatures, and 20%-30% Clawed Turtles nest in the Carribean. They mainly live along shallow waters near the shore in coral reefs, rocky areas, lagoons, and creeks. Generally, they like to live in water shallower than 65 feet. In this species, there are two major sub populations, the Indo-Pacific Clawed Turtles and the Atlantic Clawed Turtles. The Clawed turtle species is a keystone species, meaning they are very important for their environment. They feed on sea sponges among the reefs, which allows for “biodiversity”, or they make other less common species of sponge to grow making a large variety or diversity in the sponges found in their environment. The unpatched eggs that this species leaves in the sand provide many nutrients for the grasses and plants on the beach, and this helps prevent coastal erosion. In the mid 21st century, there was an estimated amount of 21,212 - 28,138 of this new species. Considering that the Clawed turtle species has just been named a separate species from the Hawksbill species, lead scientists on this species, Dr. Sanchez and Dr. Pop, estimate a large growth of Clawed Turtles because of how well they are surviving due to their adaptations. These turtles are both predators and prey. Their main predators are killer whales and sharks, and their main prey are smaller fishes and marine algae. Clawed turtles mate every 2-3 years, they nest in quiet sandy beaches in the tropics. Females climb up the beach and nest their eggs in a secure and protected spot far away from human and other animal activity. Once they find a place for the eggs, they dig a hole, fill it with the eggs and then cover the hole. They leave the eggs for about 60 days before they are ready to hatch. Females will generally stay very near her eggs either on land or in the water, and even visit them often to ensure their safety.

History

The Clawed Turtle is an adapted species from the Hawksbill Turtle. The Hawksbill Turtle was listed as extremely endangered in the early 21st century, and as the Earth’s climate changed, their habitats were destroyed, their eggs kept getting destroyed, their shells and beaks were sold, and their meat was eaten, the Hawksbill Turtle species evolved and were adapted to the new circumstances in which it had to live in. Later in the 21st century, scientists from the Harvard Data Science Initiative, Dr. Pop and Dr. Sanchez studied this adapted species closely and officially identified it as a new species called the Clawed Turtle. The Clawed Turtle had a different diet, slightly different habitat, different eggs, meat, shells, and much more.

The Clawed Turtle, like its ancestors the Hawksbill Turtles is part of the Cheloniidae family. This family is made up of modern sea turtles, commonly large marine turtles. The turtles in this family can be identified by their shared flat, wide and rounded shells, and having flipper-like front limbs. There are seven species classified as part of this family, the Loggerhead sea turtle, Flatback sea turtle, Hawksbill sea turtle, Olive Ridley sea turtle, Green sea turtle, Kemp's Ridley sea turtle, and the newest species added to this family, the Clawed Turtle. The entire Cheloniidae family generally lives in the warmer, tropical and subtropical parts of the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean. Some sea turtles even live in the much warmer seas, such as the Mediterranean Sea. The Cheloniidae family sea turtles generally live out in the waters above the continental reef where they have access to the fishes and plants in their diet. These sea turtles tend to stay in bays and estuaries, rather than traveling among oceans.

The Hawksbill Turtle’s extinction was caused by both environmental factors and humans. Global warming makes the sand on the coast warmer, which lowers the chance of the turtle eggs hatching, and also causes an overpopulation of females. Additionally, global warming has also made the ocean temperatures warmer, which disturbs the migration of animals that the turtles need for food and can change the currents in the ocean that the turtles depend on to bring them food because of their incapacity to swim fast enough and travel large distances. In addition to environmental factors causing the Hawksbill Turtle extinction, human behavior has also led them to extinction. First of all, global warming is caused by human behavior, and global warming is a big problem for the turtles as stated above. Plastic pollution in the oceans has also killed many turtles, mainly because turtles can easily mistake plastics in the ocean for an animal and eat it, but then are unable to digest it. Humans also find the Hawksbill Turtle shell very attractive, therefore many turtles were killed for the trading of these shells, and even whole turtles were killed and dried out for wall hangings. Another big problem that led to their extinction was hunting for their meat and eggs. Humans killed many turtles for their meat and killed many eggs, meaning fewer turtles were hatching. Lastly, human activities such as diving, fishing, scuba diving, and many activities available for tourists in the Hawksbill Turtle’s habitats led to habitat destruction. The Clawed Turtle is an adaption of this species, and its evolved behavioral characteristics and physical features prevent many of these factors to actually be a threat to this new species.

Evolution

The Clawed Turtle species was given its name because it is the only turtle in the Cheloniidae family with retractable claws on both the front and back legs. These claws serve for survival and gathering food. Many turtles, including its now extinct ancestor the Hawksbill Turtles, die because fishermen are not careful with their equipment and trap turtles for long periods of time, and don’t care to untangle the turtles while taking the fishing equipment out of the water. Some fishermen even leave nets abandoned in the ocean, which turtles get tangled up in and eventually die. As the Hawksbill Turtle species evolved, some started to have claws in their legs to be able to rip apart the nets and free themselves from the nets before the nets get pulled out or just abandoned in the ocean. The claws also help the Clawed Turtles gather other types of food to expand their diet. With the help of the claws, they can catch bigger fish, claw through bigger marine algae plants, and claw through reefs and rocks to have better access to food. Additionally, these claws are retractable, like those of a cat for example. Since the Clawed Turtle’s habitat is among delicate reefs and among many other marine animals, the Clawed Turtles only use their claws when they feel they are in danger, as to not harm the reefs and animals around them unnecessarily. The claws come out of their legs when the turtle feels danger, or any other urgent need. When the turtle feels danger, their claws come out as a reflex. As another survival adaptation, Clawed Turtles also have extremely sharp teeth that serve some of the same purposes as the claws, mainly to be able to have access to more food and to detalle themselves from fishing materials. Since the Hawksbill Turtle did not have teeth, its diet was limited to soft small foods that did not require any chewing or ripping apart before eating the animal. This restricted their diet to foods only found in reefs, and because their habitats were being destroyed, many Hawksbill Turtles had limited access to food. The Clawed Turtle has teeth, therefore it is able to eat bigger fishes living out in the oceans, and other bigger animals not only found in reefs. The Clawed Turtle also has better senses than its ancestor. These senses include taste and sight. Both these senses evolved to prevent the turtles from accidentally eating, for example a plastic bag instead of a jellyfish. The heightened taste buds help them taste the difference, and the heightened eyesight helps them to differentiate the two before even putting it inside their mouths. As these senses will continue to evolve as time goes on, turtles will be able to differentiate plastics from animals and eliminate this very common threat to all turtles. In addition to their evolved senses, Clawed Turtles also have many adapted physical features. Clawed Turtles have longer and flatter legs than their ancestors that help them swim faster. Swimming faster helps them not depend on the ocean currents to bring the food that they need. Since global warming is affecting the ocean currents, turtles can no longer depend on them to bring the food in their diet, therefore their fins slowly evolved to a shape in which they can use them more for swimming and have more powerful strokes. Because of this adaptation, the clawed turtle can also travel from habitat to habitat quicker and more efficiently. So if their habitat is invaded and destroyed, they can more easily move to a new habitat and get the same diet and living conditions rather than starve and be killed because of a lack of habitat. Their legs also now have “elbows” and “knees”, making it possible for them to lift themselves off the round and walk on land. Walking on land means they can lay their eggs in a more sheltered off spot where humans will not destroy them, and it also means that they can help protect the eggs until they hatch. A big problem that the Hawksbill Turtle had that led the species into extinction was its unique and valuable shell. The shell was unique because of the pattern and the colors, the pattern was layered little pieces of the shell that created a “rugged” look on the sides that was appealing for home decor and to artists. Humans would kill Hawksbill Turtles for their shells and beaks to use as artwork, and sometimes even kill a turtle and dry it whole to use as wall hangings. This led to an adaptation in the Clawed Turtle’s shell. The shell of the Clawed Turtle is unpatterned, just a big dome with straight edges. The colors were adapted to earth toned colors that don’t stand out in the water or on earth, and therefore isn’t as appealing to people for decor reasons. The shell of this new species has small spikes lining the sides of the shell as a protective measure against humans trying to grab a Clawed Turtle out of the water. Lastly, not only were outer features adapted for this species survival, but the anatomy of the Clawed Turtle’s digestive system is also different to that of the Hawksbill Turtle. Since there is so much plastic in the ocean, turtles started to need a way to process plastics. When a Clawed turtle eats a plastic, their heightened taste buds sense that it is not an animal, and that they cannot digest this or it will get stuck in the process. When a plastic (or other trash item) enters the Clawed turtle’s digestive system, the saliva of the turtle creates a biodegradable coating on the plastic, and the plastic never actually gets processed. Once the biodegradable coating covers the plastic, the turtle passes it along back into the ocean, without it having caused any harm to their bodies.

Clawed Turtles are omnivores, they eat a variety of different fishes and plants. Typically these fishes and plants are found along the coral reefs, where turtles have easy access. But some Clawed turtles move away from coral reefs and hunt bigger fish or plants. Most commonly, their diet consists of mollusks, crustaceans, marine algae, sea urchins, jellyfish, and fish. All these animals are found in shallow waters and normally around coral reefs, which is why Clawed turtles have this specific diet. Even though they can swim faster and easier than most turtles, behavioral studies have shown that they still typically stay around their habitats for food.

Summary

The Clawed Turtle (or Regulus Testudo Graeca) is a species that evolved from the extinct Hawksbill Turtles. The Hawksbill Turtles had many environmental and human caused threats, for example global warming, shell trading, poaching, habitat destruction, and general human activities (fishing, scuba diving, snorkeling). As the Hawksbill Turtles died off from these threats, they started evolving, and in the late 21st century scientists Dr. Pop and Dr. Sanchez classified the evolved turtle as a new species, the Clawed Turtle. The Clawed turtle is name after it’s unique claws on its front and back legs. It’s Latin name means “Greek Tortoise” because Clawed Turtles can swim in water and walk on land with the help of their longer legs with “elbows” and “knees”. Clawed turtles swim faster than most other turtles because of their longer and flatter legs that serve as fins in the water. “Testudo”, the Latin word for turtle, means “beast of the nether regions” which refers to the sharp teeth and sharp spikes along the sides of their shell. Clawed turtles live in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans in the warmer areas. They typically live along reefs and near the shore so they have access to the beach for nesting and to their diet. Their diet consists of fish, algae, jellyfish, and crustaceans living in the reefs. These turtles nest every 2-3 years in sheltered places along the beaches. As of the mid-21st century, there are around 21,212 - 28,138 Clawed turtles, but scientists believe that this number will continue to grow because of how well the Clawed Turtles are doing in the wild.

Works Cited

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“Cheloniidae.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 11 Dec. 2019, en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheloniidae.

“Global Warming & Sea Turtles.” SEE Turtles, www.seeturtles.org/global-warming.

“Hawksbill Sea Turtle.” National Geographic, 24 Sept. 2018, www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/reptiles/h/hawksbill-sea-turtle/.

“Hawksbill Sea Turtle.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 22 Nov. 2019, en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawksbill_sea_turtle.

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