Paint butt and sit on canvas11/22/2023 ![]() ![]() Spring emergence can be a dangerous time for these lethargic turtles.įield biologists tend to do their research during the spring and summer, when animals are most active. The turtles are desperate to bask in the sun to increase their body temperature, to fire up their metabolism and eliminate these acidic by-products.Īnd it’s hard to move when they’re that crampy, making them vulnerable to predators and other hazards. ![]() It’s like when you go for a hard run - your body switches to anaerobic metabolism, lactic acid builds up and you get a cramp. ![]() In the spring, when anaerobic turtles emerge from hibernation, they are basically one big muscle cramp. They mobilize calcium from their shells to neutralize the acid, in much the same way we take calcium-containing antacids for heartburn. Painted turtles are the kings of anoxia-tolerance. This ability is amazing, but can be dangerous, even lethal, if it goes on for too long, because acids build up in their tissues as a result of this metabolic switch.īut how long is “too long”? Both snapping turtles and painted turtles can survive forced submergence at cold water temperatures in the lab for well over 100 days. Snapping turtles and painted turtles tolerate this stressful situation by switching their metabolism to one that doesn’t require oxygen. Some turtles can handle water with low oxygen content - others cannot. Over the winter, as the oxygen is used up, the pond becomes hypoxic (low oxygen content) or anoxic (depleted of oxygen). On top of that, there are other critters in the pond consuming the oxygen that was produced by aquatic plants during the summer. Air, on the other hand, has a low specific heat so its temperature fluctuates, and gets too cold for turtle survival.Īn ice-covered pond presents two problems for turtles: they can’t surface to take a breath, and little new oxygen gets into the water. Pond water temperatures remain quite stable over the winter and an ectotherm sitting in that water will have a similarly stable body temperature. Water acts as a temperature buffer it has a high specific heat, which means it takes a lot of energy to change water temperature. This is why freshwater turtles hibernate in water, where their body temperatures remain relatively stable and will not go below freezing. 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. To breathe or not to breathe, that is the question. ![]()
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