June 12, 2003
Formerly extinct turtle breathes out its . . .
From Down Under (so to speak):
Scientists were beating a path to a plastic tank in Brisbane yesterday to examine a shell-backed beast they had [once] presumed to be extinct. The young male Lavarack's turtle was captured in a creek at the Lawn Hill National Park in north Queensland a week ago and flown to the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service in Brisbane.Meanwhile, the Straits Times reports:As well as its journey back from the dead, the shelled beast has another unusual characteristic scientists are keen to investigate: it breathes through its bum. Its rear orifice, called a cloaca, serves as an anus and also conceals its reproductive organs and a pair of gill-like sacs. . .
The turtle was identified and named in 1994 after scientists found fossil remains, which they displayed at the Queensland Museum. They assumed the species had become extinct at the start of the most recent ice age, 15,000 years ago, until a live version was stumbled on in the late 1990s.
A collector of rare turtles and tortoises is planning a $1.6 million expansion of his year-old Live Turtle and Tortoise Museum at the Chinese Garden in Jurong.
Posted by David on June 12, 2003 9:23 PM
need a breathe mint anyone?
Posted by: Timothy Wrighton on June 19, 2003 10:58 AM
Hello.
How is latin name of Lavarack's turtles? Thanks a lot for answer.
Topi
Posted by: Topi Pigula on July 8, 2003 7:39 AM
William S. Burroughs would have loved it. "Did I ever tell you about the turtle who taught his asshole to talk?"
Posted by: David Gerard on September 29, 2003 6:16 AM
Latin name for Lavarack's Turtle:
Fartusbreathus Notextinctus
Posted by: Christian Hall on September 30, 2003 5:28 PM
has any one found any pictures; cause this i GOTTA see !
Posted by: K.G. on October 4, 2003 11:44 AM
there is no such turtle in either real life or fossill records. it would also be physically impossible for a vertebrate to breathe through it bottom. whoever wrote this story is very clever and has a brillant imagination, but just so people know, there is absolutely no truth in this story
Posted by: RMD on November 8, 2005 11:30 PM
does anyone have a picture of this so called un-dead turtle or what? it seems to me if this turtle was really back then pictures would be all over the web, and i can't find even one.
MDGB
Posted by: Matthew D.G. Banks on April 13, 2006 6:08 AM
"theres no such thing as this turtle...they made it up"...dont be so sure..that person would perhaps also have a problem with the fish with the transparent head or the HUNDREDS of other findings that defy probabilities...evolution tries it all and youd be surprised whats out there...as for the pictures, i found one with little effort....@ deadly australians.com
Posted by: phillip hill on August 6, 2009 12:53 PM
gmail.com