Turtle Robots, Biology & Environmental Threats

Devotees of the testudines rejoice! Whether you have one as a pet, admire them at the zoo, or giggle with the rest of the internet when they rock each other off logs, chances are high, we think, that you like turtles. We like turtles! And conveniently for us, turtle science is also extremely cool, so this was basically an ideal episode to make. Enjoy!

SciShow Tangents is on YouTube! Go to www.youtube.com/scishowtangents to check out this episode with the added bonus of seeing our faces! 

Head to www.patreon.com/SciShowTangents to find out how you can help support SciShow Tangents, and see all the cool perks you’ll get in return, like bonus episodes and a monthly newsletter! A big thank you to Patreon subscribers Garth Riley and Glenn Trewitt for helping to make the show possible!

And go to https://store.dftba.com/collections/scishow-tangents to buy some great Tangents merch!

Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions! 

[Truth or Fail]

Fossilized turtle poop showing green algae feast site

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/995472

https://www.science.org/content/article/sea-turtles-have-3000-year-old-routines

Crushing of fossilized turtle shells shows burial site age

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/26/science/turtle-shells-fossils-paleontology.html

https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geosphere/article/18/5/1524/616297/Crushed-turtle-shells-Proxies-for-lithification

Turtle fossil was actually a plant fossil

https://www.livescience.com/animals/120-million-year-old-plants-turn-out-to-be-ultra-rare-fossilized-baby-turtles

[Trivia Question]

Speed of a sand-digging robot modeled after a turtle hatchling

https://today.ucsd.edu/story/bot-inspired-by-baby-turtles-can-swim-under-the-sand-1

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/aisy.202200404

[Fact Off]

Chinese soft-shelled turtles (basically) pee out their mouths

https://journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/215/21/3723/19178/The-Chinese-soft-shelled-turtle-Pelodiscus

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/10/121011090643.htm

https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/aohc/63/2/63_2_181/_article

https://theconversation.com/no-overwintering-turtles-dont-breathe-through-their-butts-getting-to-the-bottom-of-a-popular-misconception-224331

Microplastics in sand mess with sea turtle sex ratios

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/06/230623210244.htm#:~:text=Warmer%20temperatures%20are%20known%20to,before%20their%20sex%20is%20set.

https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/temperature-dependent.html#:~:text=This%20is%20called%20temperature%2Ddependent,the%20hatchlings%20will%20be%20female.

[Ask the Science Couch]

Turtle communication and vocalization

https://anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ar.24553

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-14356-3

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-33741-8 https://gizmodo.com/jurassic-parks-dinosaur-sound-effects-were-actually-ani-5994278

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/01/06/turtles-eat-south-america/

[Butt One More Thing]

Collecting loggerhead sea turtle fecal samples by making them custom swimsuits 

https://www.uq.edu.au/news/article/2015/10/sea-turtles-don-swimsuits-science

Pictures: 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/37175871@N06/albums/72157659326105212/