Turtles are awesome creatures that have been on Earth longer than lizards, snakes, and crocodiles. In Hawaii, they represent long life and have been the symbol for wisdom and patience throughout the world.

To know more about their magnificence, here are some turtle facts below:





They’re very primitive creatures.

Archaeologists have found the oldest sea turtle fossils dating back to about 150 million years, making them one of the oldest animals on the planet. Dinosaurs became extinct 65 million years, meaning they inhabited the Earth along with the turtles. These creatures must be tough to survive the changes of time.

Some turtles live over a hundred years.

A Seychelles giant tortoise residing on the tiny Atlantic island of St. Helena named Jonathan, is the oldest living terrestrial animal known. He was fully mature at the age of 50 when he was brought to the island in 1882. In January 2016, Jonathan was given a more nutritious diet to keep him well and healthy. He is now 186 years old.

They can travel a long distance from home.

Loggerhead turtles have been recorded traveling from Japan to Baja, a distance of 8,000 miles (13,000 km). While Leatherback turtles can travel 16,000 km or more every year. That’s 10,000 miles! They may be slow on land but that sure won’t stop them from swimming for miles and miles on sea.

The smallest in the world is the Speckled padloper tortoise.

These tiny creatures weigh in at just 100-165 grams and measure 3 inches (6-8 cm) for adult males and 4 inches (8-10 cm) for adult females. In the United States, the smallest is the American bog turtle.

While the largest are the Leatherbacks.

Weighing in at between 550 and 2,000 lbs (907 kg) and reaching up to 9 ft (2.5 m), leatherback turtles are the largest of all living turtles and the fourth heaviest modern reptile.

The Usain Bolt of tortoises is Bertie.

Bertie, a South African leopard tortoise, holds the record as the world’s quickest after traveling at speeds of 0.6mph (0.28 m/s) in 2014. Hailing from Adventure Valley, UK, Bertie beat the previous record that stood since 1977 by a tortoise named Charlie.

You won’t find them in Antarctica.

They live just about everywhere except in the cold Antarctic environment. Today, Antarctica is the coldest, driest place in the world but ancient turtle bones were actually discovered dating back to 45 million years. This suggests that the Antarctic continent was a totally different place before when life thrived its area, including turtles.

Turtles in the South hatch quicker.

In the North, box turtle eggs hatch slower at around 90-120 days. In the South however, it will only take about 70 days for the eggs to hatch.

Their gender depends on the temperature.

Just like most alligators and crocodiles, the sex of most turtles is determined based on the temperature of the developing eggs. Apparently this is known as temperature-dependent sex determination or TSD. During incubation, when the eggs develop below 81.86° F (27.7° C), the hatchlings will be male, whereas there will be female hatchlings if the eggs develop above 87.8° F (31° C). When the temperature fluctuates between these two values, a mix of male and female sea turtles will be produced.

The kind of sound they make can help you determine if it’s a male or female.

It is often difficult to identify the sex of your pet turtle especially since the differences between males and females are subtle. You can compare their shell size or shape if you have two turtles side by side. But if you get the chance to observe their mating process, male turtles typically makes a grunting noise while females just hiss.

Male sea turtles almost never leave the ocean.

It is difficult to study their population numbers since males spend most of their entire lives under the surface. The is because they don’t have to walk on land to lay eggs, having no reason to leave the ocean.





Female turtles mate with several males and can store sperm years.

They are able to store the sperm inside them up to four years after mating with several male turtles, so a single nest may contain babies from different fathers. However, only one out of a thousand sea turtles survive into adulthood after hatching.