Other Turtle Discussion :: Thriving in the wild; how come turtles' are so successful?

[knite]

As we all should know, turtles and tortoises-alike lived for so long, way before crocodilians, snakes, lizards and definitely humans. Some species live for literally centuries themselves. So what exactly contributed to their success?

(BTW, this might be a random question, but does anyone know how well can a red-ear slider's ears and eyes function? Thanks)

[jenaero]

I can't answer what's responsible for their 'success' but I know it's definetly not humans. If anything, we're taking away their natural environment every day for our benefit. Not to mention the people that take turts from the wild to keep as pets...but I'm not gonna go there now.

I'm sure it's a combination of factors...but not people.

[steve]

With the exception of RES and other popular pet turtles, other turtle species are not thriving because of people, period.

RES thrive because they can out-compete similar turtles, which I think their personality (or psychology) has a lot to do with that. They also aggressively breed and I think they are very hardy (physically), if any of that makes any sense.

[marisa]

They're the oldest living reptiles and other than size and loss of teeth, haven't changed that much from when they first appeared 180-200 million years ago (depending on the info source). Considering the literal destruction of their habitat, the pollution in the world, natural predators, the pet trade, etc. it almost seems that luck would play a major role for a turt to survive and enjoy a long lifespan. Some species adapt better than others, and in nature, it's survival of the fittest...

RES have keen eyesight, especially for distance (to see predators), but are supposed to be slightly nearsighted, relying more on their sense of smell than sight for food that's close to them. They are able to distinguish colors, and some show a preference for some colors over others.

They have a hearing system, but lack openings/ears. Their hearing is not particularly good, and lower tones are easier for them to hear than higher ones. They are very sensitive to vibrations, however.

BTW, they also have an excellent sense of smell, and can smell as well under water as they can with their heads in the air.