The Australian continent has long gained fame thanks to its special inhabitants.
Elusor macrurus turtles have bright green coats. They are very old and live in only one body of water, the Mary River, which flows through southeast Queensland.
Despite its striking appearance and being one of the largest freshwater tortoises on the continent, this species was only studied a few decades ago.
The fact is that the turtles of the Mary River have one feature: they can breathe through the cloaca when they are in the water. Thanks to this arrangement of the respiratory system, turtles rarely appear on the surface.
Well, thick green hair is not hair at all, but … algae. They cover the turtle’s head and sometimes its shell.
The green-haired inhabitants of the Mary River are the most ancient species. Experts concluded that they appeared about 40 million years ago.
This species is now under threat of extinction.
And the second reason is that these inhabitants of the Australian continent mature for a very long time, about a quarter of a century passes between birth and the first nesting.
