#Apalon

[herpsandbirds]

Eastern Spiny Softshell Turtle (Apalone s. spinifera), family Trionychidae,  eastern United States

photograph by Sara Mullican

#softshell turtle #turtle #apalone #trionychidae #reptile #herpetology #animals #nature #north america

[snackugaki]

and the template here: https://twitter.com/KarlaDoodlesPen/status/1495943787138408457

That's my girl since i was 12 in 1997 and that's my girl at 38 in 2023

#ngl it was nice to turn off my brain and just do some quick draws and paints #this close to giving OoTS Venus the Selena Bustier #that's quintanilla-perez to lay that down so the people know #finding brushes that ape what Mora used was a pain tho #technically cheated on it because I already had a design for MM and Bay #included the MMPR crossover cuz Venus was there Gandalf #3000 years ago for the FIRST power rangers crossover #Next Mutation and Power Rangers: in Space did it first #not to be confused with Power Rangers Lost Galaxy or SPD #I still stand by Rise Venus as a softshell #because let's get it on record correctly #her name was Mei Pieh Chi #and awkward wade-giles romanization aside #...actually her name is a bit of a linguistic mess #but Splinter did clarify her name is supposed to translate as “beautiful turtle of energy” #...which... is... an odd naming sty--ANYWAY #the hanzi used for Pieh is understood to refer specifically to 'softshell turtle' #so nyeh #also there's spiny softshell and smooth softshells native to North America #apalone mutica baby! #god I hope her story continues past 150 in IDW #i waited so long to see her again #PLS #good things for my precious daughter Venus i plea i pray #also rainbowfoxes is right #the MMPR cross over is from BOOM! Studios not IDW #we strive to credit properly in this house

[everythingunderthesky]

Ouch.

...Full disclosure, the entire title is "Traumatic Injuries in Eastern Spiny Softshell Turtles (Apalone spinifera) Due to Recreational Activities in the Northern Lake Champlain Basin"!

1 2 [You are here!] 4 5 6 

#rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt #rottmnt Donatello #Donatello Hamato #rottmnt Donnie #rottmnt meme #Traumatic Injuries in Eastern Spiny Softshell Turtles (Apalone spinifera) #Recreational Turtle Activities in the Northern Lake Champlain Basin

[avephelis]

okay, was there ever an official confirmation of exactly what kind of softshell donnie is? because i was under the impression he's some sort of spiny softshell, (apalone spinifera), but i'm not sure whether that's ever been confirmed canon.

#also im not sure whether he's apalone spinifera spinifera or apalone spinifera aspera? it's really difficult to find aging charts online #so the subspecies get confusing #i ask because a lot of the time people post images of other types of softshells saying theyre donnie #and im a bit of a taxonomy nerd so i just. i need to know. biting. #sorry for being a nitpicker it is important to me #rottmnt #donnie rottmnt

[yanteetle]

To that one follower that sends me their pet pictures regularly despite me never replying, please know i love them dearly and that they have been single handedly keeping me going with their cute little toe beans and that one random alpaca ❤️

#ash apalone ferox im talking abt you thank you #my anxiety is too high to respond but i love your pets dearly #love looking through them when im mentally unwell #teets blockables

[possibly-eli]

OH MY GOD OH MY FUCKING GOD OH MY GOODNESS. LOOK AT HIM. LOOK AT HIS LITTLE FACE/???? OH MY GOD???????????????

#apalone ferox juvenile image from wikipedia my love #hes so stupid and cute looking i cant actually #i might actually thwo up hes so cute #look at his EYES #LOOK AT HIS LITTLE NOSE. HIS SNOUT #OH MY GOD. OH MY GOD

[amnhnyc]

Sunshine State residents, do you recognize this little neighbor? It’s the Florida softshell turtle (Apalone ferox)! Unlike many turtles, you might find this critter darting about on land or swimming rapidly in water. Its hydrodynamic, flattened shell, and four strongly-webbed feet help it to move swiftly. Softshells stick mostly to water and have long necks and snouts that they poke above the surface, like a snorkel, to breathe. Juveniles have more contrasting color patterns than adults: their carapace, or shell, can be olive, tan, or light brown with spots and a yellow rim.

Photo: kimberry, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist

#science #nature #natural history #animals #did you know #fact of the day #turtles #herpetology #florida #cool animals #weird animals #reptile

[turtleinsoup]

"[...]In its natural habitat this elusive creature, the Apalone spinifera is known for its unique feeding behavior, often swallowing its prey whole. To accomplish this, spiny softshell turtles possess a highly specialized throat structure, that aids in grasping and subduing prey. This anatomical adaptation allows them to swiftly engulf their quarry, utilizing a rapid and coordinated series of jaw movements that facilitate the smooth ingestion of their often swift and agile pr

#Donnie made himself a sandwich and refused to be normal about it #chewing is for losers #who needs teeth when u have tutle power #people always make donnie a starved little creatureTM #thats bc eating costs 95% of his braincells #rottmnt #rottmnt donnie #rise of the tmnt #tmnt 2018

[hobermen-archive]

Lilac + Apalone themed merch for a homework assignment featuring Donnie, of course 🐢💜🌸 (These are NOT merchandise I'm actually making, it's just a design assignment)

(15 Apr 2021)

#donnie #ROTTMNT #ORIGINAL #REPOST #original twitter caption #[Wait... Is that my typo or Hobs? I don't remember... Fuck] #[...I'm gonna correct it. Used to say 'addignment'.]

[thedawningofthehour]

So a lot of people post pictures of a regular softshell turtle, but I’m pretty sure Donnie is specifically meant to be a northern spiny softshell.

See the deep green? The dot pattern and texture?

Northern spinies are also native to-what do you know-northern U.S., and their habitat does clip the edge of New York State. So Donnie could have been captured from the wild! None of the other boys are native to the area, which I did actually work into my fic. They must have been bred in captivity. Potential explanation for why Donnie is so feral.

But the thing that I find most amusing? The scientific name for the northern spiny softshell?

Apalone spinifera spinifera.

So, obviously apalone roughly translates into softshell, while spinifera is the spiny part. What cracks me up is that they didn’t go any more specific. It literally translates into spiny spiny softshell. A very spiny softshell. That’s the best they could come up with.

Scientists: “Yeah, that’s a spiny boy right there. I don’t know what else you want me to say.”

#i don't know if this will be funny to anyone else but it's funny to me now at 3 am #not story #donatello #i just want to take a moment to point out how ugly he looks without his eyebrows

[herpsandbirds]

Midland Smooth Softshell Turtle (Apalone m. mutica), gamily Trionychidae, Missouri, USA

photograph by Peter Paplanus

#softshell turtle #turtle #reptile #apalone #trionychidae #herpetology #animals #nature #north america

[bethanythebogwitch]

Wet Beast Wednesday: spiny softshell turtle

It may be neither Flat Fuck Friday nor Turtle Tuesday, but because this is my series and I can do what I want, I'm talking about a very flat turtle. The spiny softshell turtle (Apalone spinifera) is the most widely distributed and possibly the most common softshell turtle in North America. Its range covers most of the Eastern half of the USA and stretched into Canada and Mexico. There are 6 subspecies separated by geography and hybridization can happen in places where their ranges cross. Hybridization has also been known to happen with the Florida softshell (Apalone ferox). The subspecies are the northern (A. s. spinifera), gulf coast (A. s. aspera), Texas (A. s. emoryi), pallid (A. s. pallida), Guadalupe (A. s. guadalupensis), and black (A. s. atra) spiny softshells.

(Image: a spiny softshell turtle seen from above and to the side. It is a turtle with a wide, flat shell. Its head and one foot are visible. The head is skinny and has an elongated nose. The foot is wide and flat, with webbed toes. The turtle is an olive green with black dots on the skin, yellow stripes on the face, and dark spots on the shell. End ID)

The thing that makes a softshell a softshell is the lack of keratinized scutes on their shells. This makes the shells smooth and leathery. The center of the shell has a layer of solid bone user it, but this does not extend to the edges of the shell, making it less rigid. Softshells are the fragile speedsters of the turtle world. Their shells are a lot lighter and often more streamlined, allowing for faster movement both on land and in water, but they provide less defense. Spiny softshells have spiny projections along the front edge of the carapace (upper shell), with males having more than females. They are some of the largest North American freshwater turtles. Females can reach a carapace length of 54 cm (21 in) and 11 kg (25 lbs) while the smaller males max out at about 25 cm (10 in).

(Image: a spiny softshell being held by a person, seen from the front. The leading edge of the carapace is visible, showing off the small spines. End ID)

Spiny softshells have wide, flat, paddle-like feet with three claws and an elongated nose that acts like a snorkel. The turtles are born a bright olive color with striped faces and dark spots on the shell. Males keep their juvenile coloration for their entire lives while females grow darker ad lose many of their markings. It can be very difficult to tell females of different subspecies apart, while males and juveniles can be distinguished by their markings. Smooth skin and highly vascularized membranes in the cloaca, mouth, and throat allow the turtles to breathe by diffusing dissolved oxygen from the water into their blood.

(Image: a male and female spiny softshell facing each other. The male is less than half the size of the female and has an olive colored shell and skin, with dark spots on the shell. The female is a uniform muddy brown color. End ID)

Spiny softshells are generalists able to live in a wide range of habitats. They prefer streams, rivers, and ponds with muddy or sandy bottoms and high visibility, but can live in most freshwater habitats. Softshells are diurnal, spending their days basking and feeding. Being turtles, they are ectothermic, meaning their body temperature matches the surrounding temperature. To warm themselves up, the turtles bask in the sunlight. They can often be found resting on exposed rocks, logs, sandbars, or shorelines. While not particularly social animals, the turtles will bask in groups. When threatened, softshells will attempt to swim away and/or bury themselves. In the right sediment, a softshell can bury itself in under a second. Because their shells are less rigid, softshells have to actively defend themselves when cornered and will bite and scratch. People have to be careful when handling them. They brumate (that's hibernation for reptiles) during winter. While brumating, they bury themselves underwater and slow their metabolism and oxygen requirements. In this state they can fully sustain themselves on oxygen absorbed through their skin or special membranes.

(Image: a spiny softshell turtle buried in its hunting strategy. Only the head is visible above the sand. End ID)

They are primarily carnivores and will eat anything that can fit in their mouths. Aquatic insects, crayfish, worms, amphibians, mussels, snails, fish, and more are on their plate. While capable of fast swimming, they are not pursuit predators. They employ two primary hunting strategies. The first is to bury themselves in the sediment and wait for prey to come by. The second is digging in the sediment to find worms and other animals. Fish have been known to follow digging turtles around to feed on animals unearthed by them.

(Image: a spiny softshell in captivity. It is swimming at the surface of the water in a tank, amongst artificial leaves. End ID)

Spiny softshells mate in spring. Males attempt to woo females by swimming over to them and bumping heads together. The male then sits on top of the female to mate. Unlike most species of turtles, the males do not grab onto the female's shells during mating. Eggs are laid between summer and early fall and will hatch next spring. The female will dig a nest in sandy or gravelly banks and bury the eggs once they have been laid. She provides no further care. Females will typically mate multiple times each year, with each mating having a different nest. The juveniles take 8 to 10 years to reach sexual maturity and they can live up to 50 years in the wild. Many turtles determine sex by the temperature the eggs are incubated in. This is not the case with spiny softshells, who have genetics based sex determination.

(Image: a group of 5 juveniles. The photo focuses on two who are sitting next to each other. One has its front right leg on the shell of the other. They have similar coloration to an adult male. End ID)

(Image: a newborn emerging from its egg. The egg is round and white, looking like a ping-pong ball. Only the head of the turtle has emerged. End ID)

Most subspecies of spiny softshell are classified as least concern or near threatened by the IUCN, meaning they are not in danger of extinction. The exception is the black spiny softshell, also known as the Cuatro Ciénegas softshell, which is critically endangered. The primary threats to the turtles is habitat loss due to human activity. Adults have no natural predators outside of the Florida and adjacent state populations, which are prey to alligators. Juveniles are eaten by a variety of animals including fish, snakes, raccoons, and herons. People will also eat the adults. Because it can take a whole decade for juveniles to become reproductive, losses in population take a long time to replace. They have been introduced to areas outside of their native range, most notably the western USA. Most of these introductions are due to people releasing pet turtles into the wild.

(Image: someone holding a juvenile. The shell is 2-3 times the size of the human's thumb. End ID)

#i typoed it as softhsell more times than I care to admit #wet beast wednesday #turtle #turtles #softshell turtle #soft shell turtle #spiny softshell turtle #reptile #biology #zoology #ecology #animal facts #freshwater ecology #aquatic biology #informative #educational #image described #turtle power #herpetology

[milks-thoughts]

is the request open? if saw! I want peepaw donnie with baby reader platonic request! I read your peepaw raph with baby child, And I went 'what about peepaw donnie' and i saw request is still open(or not) feel free to ignore this!

okay bet I pull up

what’s wrong? what do you MEAN you don’t like angst?

summary: Donnie’s child is sweet, too sweet, the world isn’t meant for sweet things anymore.

TW: death. only death. it’s just pain

Please Don’t Take My Sunshine Away

Donnatello was a man of science. He basked in it, he also considered himself a smart man. Someone who wouldn’t make brash decisions (that was Nardos job) so tell him why he found a yokai infant and immediately adopted it. It was a softshell turtle like him. “ An Apalone mutica “ is what he told his family when he brought the turtle infant home, Leo and Raph both showed worry to him having a child. Mikey was more than supportive. “ wait- what kind of turtle? “ asked April. He paused “ A smooth softshell turtle. It, “ he paused looking down at you “ They, are a smooth softshell turtle “. April smiled gently before Mikey jumped in “ AWWW! they’re soo cute! You’re gonna have to make ‘em a little baby battleshell! “ he still hadn’t lost his spunk to the apocalyptic downfall, even if his older brothers had. Raph struggled with everyone’s safety and health. Leo’s shoulders sagged with the responsibility of the resistance and the guilt of it all. Donnie was stressed with the tech he needs to make it work. He smiled when he walked off with you. Leaving his family behind him. He didn’t mean to leave them behind.

Despite the constant crying, he was more then patient with you. You weren’t exactly an easy baby, always whining whenever Donnie tried leaving you. Y’know how sometimes parents have those nightmares about their kids dying? he had more then his fair share of them. Every time he fell asleep he gets these dreams that seem more prophetic then anything. It’s of you, you’re older, probably in your early teens and he watches you die two ways. Being crushed by a falling building and..drowning. Donnie always pulls you out of the water, he always tries to bring you back but then not even a shaky breath and you go limp in his arms. Donnie always remembers seeing his younger twin talking to him, trying to bring him back to attention but…all he can hear is ringing. He always wakes up from those dreams with a loud gasp and heaving breaths before sobbing, finding his way to your makeshift crib and just watching you breathe. It fills Donnie with relief every damn time. He always mumbles your favorite lullaby when he watches you “ …please don’t take, my sunshine away… “

It’s funny how quickly people age, you went from an infant with a army of sponges tied to your shell to having your own battle shell made for you. Because of Donnie’s horrific dreams when you were just a baby he’s adding a float to it but…he can’t really combat a whole building. You usually hung out with April or Draxum much to your fathers and Tío Leo’s contempt. When you had gotten your shell, you immediately signed onto a patrol. It was supposedly an easy one, that was a lie. The kraang attacked the patrol. The robots crushing or decimating the crowd with its laser. You didn’t have a change to escape before a pole crushed your arm, panic rising in your chest as you kicked at the hard metal, the kraang bots laser getting closer. And eventually? It found you.

When Donnie caught wind of the attacked patrol he was expecting his daughter to be driving him up a all with all her questions but…she wasn’t there. Weird. Tuning, he saw you, your arm impaled and blood leaking from your ears. Your plastron caved in and shell ripped up. He rushed forward, falling to his knees and pulling the pole out of your arm and pulling you into his lap. You weren’t dead. You were holding on by a thread, shallow gasps filling your lungs as he shushed you and shaky sung “ You are my sunshine…my only sunshine, you make me happy, when sky’s are grey- you’ll never know dear, how much I love you…please don’t take my sunshine away.. “ Donnie seemed like he was speaking past you, to someone he thought must’ve been there….he’s never sobbed that hard, not even when his older brother died. He swore his lungs would collapse from the pressure of his screams, no one could pull him from you. His child. His Star. It took him till sunset to calm down. A hushed shaky sob leaving him as he held you again, swearing that he would be more careful. For himself, and for others.

#rottmnt #rottmnt x reader #rottmnt x you #this is all purely platonic #angst #stan younger twin leo #rottmnt raph #rottmnt mikey #rottmnt leo #rottmnt donnie

[tmnt-oc-comp]

Round 1B OC info cards: Biblically Accurate Donatello

Information: Sneepsnorpery, sin, and other Apalone Spinifera activities. A blessed beast. If he doesn't win I'm throwing myself into the sun. /hj creator: @harveylikestoart

#woomy talks #oc comp info cards #sorry if we're a bit spotty with these but all the cards will hopefully be posted soon! #(i also just realized that Biblically Accurate Donatello spells out BAD and i laughed a little bit /pos)

[othellotron9000]

if I may

ahem

BEHOLD

The Trionychidae are a taxonomic family of a number of turtle genera, commonly known as softshell turtles. The family was erected by Leopold Fitzinger in 1826. Softshells include some of the world's largest freshwater turtles, though many can adapt to living in highly brackish areas. Members of this family occur in Africa, Asia, and North America, with extinct species known from Australia. Most species have traditionally been included in the genus Trionyx, but the vast majority have since been moved to other genera. Among these are the North American Apalone softshells that were placed in Trionyx until 1987.

#i like you #you're a funny human #slash genuine #ooc tags next -> #yes i just stole this from wikipedia #rottmnt #rottmnt rp #rottmnt donnie #flat fuck friday #softshell turtle #my beloved #lizzylucky asks #asks

[arminreindl]

Back to older art. These are giant softshell turtles found in the Eocene Drazinda Formation of Pakistan. On the left is Drazinderetes (Greek for Drazinda Rower), known from a bony carapace 0.8 meters long. On the right, an indetermined softshell turtle that may or may not belong to the same species, but is only known from a plastron element. This might correspond to a bony shell 1.2 meters long. As you can see there are some big difference between the lower estimate and the upper estimate, which has a lot of free space. This is because in different softshell turtles there's difference ratios between the bony and the soft shell parts. The lower estimate is based on Apalone softshell turtles, which have only 20% cartilage on the shell, while the upper is based on the Malayan softshell which has up to 45% cartilage in addition to the bone. First image Apalone ferox (Florida softshell) by Johnskate17 on Wikimedia Second image Dogania subplana (Malayan softshell) by Wibowo Djatmiko on Wikimedia

Drazinderetes lived during the Eocene in what is now Pakistan in the Drazinda Formation. This is interesting as this formation preserves a marine environment, meaning that in the absence of evidence that the fossils were washed out at sea, Drazinderetes might have been a marine animal. This would match its enormous size, as most giant turtle species have been marine (not counting those of Miocene South America). Although this would make it the first known fully marine softshell until evidence of the contrary is found, modern softshells are known to occasionally enter saltwater. Drazinderetes shared its environment with crocodiles similar to Asiatosuchus, early manatee relatives in the form of Protosiren and primitive whales related to Basilosaurus. The following reconstructions have both been made by @knuppitalism-with-ue during his paleoart streams.

#drazinderetes #softshell turtle #eocene #palaeoblr #paleontology #turtle #drazinda formation #pakistan #skeletal reconstruction #skeletal #size comparison #palaeontology #big fucking turtle