Are turtles basically invulnerable? You have to admit, surviving all the way from the Triassic to now is very impressive knowing how slow and comparatively docile they are to other organisms. It befuddles me how they are able to survive the dinosaurs let alone, the K-T extinction event.
just gotta do it slow and steady
>>5080821Kinda? When you are a giant living bolder there isn't many things that can kill you outside getting flipped over, falling or running into a large enough predator. There actually used to be tons of giant tortoises across the world until we killed all of them outside island species. Megalochelys and Carbonemys comes to mind along with Meiolaniids which looks like what would happen if a tortoise fucked an ankylosaur.
>>5080843>>5080847Imagine you, as a dinosaur, being instakilled by a spinosaurus or something and then in your last moments, a turtle is over yonder watching you die in agony.. Then goes about its merry day as if nothing happened.
>>5080821They're just tough little bastards, all reptiles are. Im more confused why there isn't more larger, predatorial species of turtle though. Snapping turtles paint an example that being an armored predator can get you to places knowing prey animals can't really harm them any significant way at least when they're in deep water. Waterfowl for example are practically defenseless against any large turtle that catch them and there is even videos of them drowning porcupines and ripping snakes apart. You'd think more species of them would take advantage of this niche.
>>5080865There were many turtle species and turtlelike species but the specific forms we see now were the most adaptable
>>5080865Do sea turtles count as predatory? Loggerheads hunt just about everything they can get their beaks around.
>>5080876True but most of them are herbivorous and munch on seagrass. Loggerheads and Leatherbacks are the only ones that'll actively try and kill things and usually it's just jellyfish
>>5080821OH N-
>>5080865Aren't snapping turtles fucked if they get tipped over? I saw a video of a river otter doing that and easily killing the turtle
>>5080876Definitely, the only near full herbivores are adult green sea turtles. Even spongivores like hawksbills are technically considered predators.
>>5081051They can flip themselves back over
>>5081051Snapping turtles are some of the most flexiable turtles out there with the longest necks, They usually flip back themselves over in seconds. River otters are total beasts themselves though too. There's even sights of them taking on small enough gators too.
>>5080865because its really difficult to exploit, your competitors are crocodiles, theyre firmly entrenched and almost impossible to dislodge from the podium they have crafted
>>5080847>largest known mammalian land predator evolved to eat tortoisesThey really used to be a lot more relevant
>>5080821Someone post the video of the sea turtle blocking a shark's attack with its shell
>>5080821"Looks are deceiving when Koopas are involved."
>>5080865>TIL: Snapping turtles can kill herons and Canada geese. Honestly glad these things aren't big enough to eat us.
