Pig-nosed Turtle (Carettochelys insculpta), juvenile, family Carettochelyidae, found in northern Australia and southern New Guinea
ENDANGERED.
These turtles have no scales, and thus have a leathery shell. Its shell is made of bone, however, unlike “softshell turtles” in the family Trionychidae.
photograph by Wildlife Conservation Society
Bronx Zoo
Diet- Insects; Fish eggs; Fish; Small amphibians; Aquatic plants
Cool Facts- Not only does the Burmese peacock softshell turtle look like a wet pile of mud but its face is one for the history books. Instead of pulling its head back into its shell like other species of turtle, these softshells can retract its head into the skin rolls of its neck in a frankly terrifying display. Their long nose allows the majority of the Burmese peacock softshell to stay underwater while taking a breath with only their snoot poking out. Very little is known about these turtles due to their rarity. They are mostly threatened by overhunting for their meat and water pollution from gold mining along river banks.