A recent finding of a strange yellow creature has people questioning their eyesight.
You won’t believe your eyes, either once you see the image of a bright yellow turtle that was spotted and retrieved from a village pond in West Bengal, India.
A fisherman took his chance when he saw a tiny reptile resembling an egg-yolk and immediately caught it with his net. The bright yellow hue made it almost impossible to dodge.
The Indian Forest Service Officer Debashish Sharma posted photos of the rare turtle on Twitter.
What you’re about to see may in fact shock you with disbelief. These peculiar organisms are considered to be a part of the Indian Flapshell turtles in areas that are common in South Asian countries like Nepal, Sri Lank, India, and Pakistan.
While typically of muddy brown and dark green color, this incident proved that there was indeed more diversity.
The first sighting of the albino-looking turtle occurred in Odisha, India in July of 2016.
The turtle was spotted by Australian wildlife volunteers on a nearby beach. Sneha Dharwadkar, a wildlife biologist and herpetologist from India, stated its yellow color derives from a lack of a pigment called tyrosine that is present in many similar reptiles.
She attributed the condition as something of a genetic mutation or possible congenital disorder as the reason for the tyrosine deficiency.
Tyrosine is an amino acid that helps with the production of melanin, among other things. Melanin is the pigment that reflects in the color of skin, eyes, and even shells for turtles. This turtle has both pink eyes and is attributed to albinism rather than leucism, which is only a partial loss of pigmentation.
Sneha also stated that the flapshell was increasing in familiarity throughout the neighboring areas.
These adorable little critters can measure anywhere from 9 to 14 inches long and are omnivorous; feasting on frogs, snails, and aquatic vegetation like seaweed.
Flapshell Facts
The Indian Flapshell turtle can dwell in most freshwater bodies that include streams, lakes, ponds, and rivers. Their numbers are large and widespread, thus making them easy targets for poachers in the area.
The species derives its name “flapshell” because of the presence of femoral flaps located on the underside of the shell or the plastron. Unfortunately, it is not very kind to humans and can even sometimes be hostile towards them (we get it).
In India, the turtles mostly feed from late January to late September. The reason they don’t eat much during the winter season is that they don’t have the right amount of heat to burn their food in this harsh climate.
Did you know they serve as wonderful pets?
They are not the friendliest towards humans as previously mentioned, but they can definitely adapt and be comfortable in a space that provides enough amenities. Once you begin to engage with them, it’s pretty easy to develop a bond with these cute turtles.
People were quick to hop on the thread concerning the alien-looking reptile.
This is the age of the internet after all. Comparisons to Kraft Cheese, egg-yolk, and Moon Pies flooded the comments sections as people started to bombard the poor turtle with innocent jokes of their own.
This image pretty much sums up an entire mood.
It’s pretty accurate considering the turtle is pretty lax and can be incapable of movement at times.
The video clip hits it right on the money when it comes to comparisons.
It really does look like an egg-yolk with eyes and a shell.
The world is full of odd living things.
It’s just another way Mother Earth expresses her biodiversity and tries to captivate us with each new discovery.
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