Florida Softshell Turtle

The Florida soft-shell turtle is the biggest species of soft-shell turtle in the U.S. It has a flattened body like a pancake, a long neck, and a long nose that looks like a snorkel on its head. On each of its huge webbed feet, it has three webbed claws. Most turtles have hard shells made of scutes, but Florida soft-shell turtles have shells made of cartilage and skin instead. Their tops are olive green to dark brown, and their bottoms are white or cream. Turtles use this pattern of...
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The Florida soft-shell turtle is the biggest species of soft-shell turtle in the U.S. It has a flattened body like a pancake, a long neck, and a long nose that looks like a snorkel on its head. On each of its huge webbed feet, it has three webbed claws. Most turtles have hard shells made of scutes, but Florida soft-shell turtles have shells made of cartilage and skin instead. Their tops are olive green to dark brown, and their bottoms are white or cream. Turtles use this pattern of colors as a kind of camouflage to hide from animals that want to eat them. Hatchlings have a ring around their carapace and a lighter carapace with patterns of yellow and orange. There are also stripes of the same color on the cheeks and neck. Most of the time, the plastron of these animals is dark in color. As the turtle gets older, these colors fade and disappear, leaving it with a dark brown color.