Turtles Survive Frigid Hibernations By Breathing Through Their Butts

D-brief
By Jacqueline Litzgus, Laurentian University
Nov 22, 2017 7:58 PMMay 21, 2019 6:05 PM
Turtles can’t head south for the winter, so they hibernate in rivers, lakes and ponds. (F_studio)
Turtles can’t head south for the winter, so they hibernate in rivers, lakes and ponds. (F_studio)

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To breathe or not to breathe, that is the question.

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?

Well, obviously you’d die.

And that’s because you’re not as cool as a turtle. And by cool I don’t just mean amazing, I mean literally cool, as in cold. Plus, you can’t breathe through your butt.

But turtles can, which is just one of the many reasons that turtles are truly awesome.

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