Chinese softshell turtle
Pelodiscus sinensis
— Where the name comes from
Pelodiscus is “mud disc”, from pēlós and dískos: a flat, round animal that spends its life buried in silt. Sinensis says China. The shell has no horny scutes but is covered in leathery skin, and to the touch it feels like a rubber mat: hence the common name in every language.
— Facts
- Group
- Reptiles · Reptilia
- Order
- Turtles and tortoises
- Habitat
- Slow rivers, canals, rice paddies, ponds with muddy bottoms
- Range
- East Asia; introduced to many other regions
- Size
- 20–33 cm of carapace, 1–3 kg
- Diet
- Fish, crustaceans, molluscs, insects, carrion
- Lifespan
- 25 years
— Characteristics
- 01
It breathes through its skin and pharynx too, staying underwater for months.
- 02
Its snout is drawn out into a proboscis it uses as a snorkel.
- 03
It is the most intensively farmed reptile in the world.
— What sets it apart
It urinates through its mouth, and that is not a joke. Living in brackish water where drinking is expensive, this turtle voids urea by rinsing its throat: it dips its head into a pool, fills its mouth and spits, repeating for ten minutes or so, and through the papillae of the pharynx it releases nitrogen without spending fresh water. It was discovered only in 2012, and it remains the only vertebrate known to urinate mainly through its mouth.
