Chinese Soft Shelled Turtle Evacuates Most of Urea through its Mouth (Biden Doesn't Appear Chinese)

SciTech Daily ^ | October 12, 2012 | Range

[lbryce]

Unabridged Title: Chinese Soft Shelled Turtle Evacuates Majority of Urea through its Mouth

When Chinese soft-shelled turtles (Pelodiscus sinensis) need to urinate, they open their mouths, according to a new study. As odd as it might seem, this actually makes sense for this amphibious organism.

The researchers published their findings in The Journal of Experimental Biology. These reptiles don’t have any gills, but they have structures inside their mouths that work like gills. This means that P. sinensis has the option of breathing underwater, though most of the time they just reach up and breathe air. But what researchers found perplexing was that when the turtles were on dry land, they would stick their heads in puddles and swish water around in their mouths. This was one of the clues that led researchers to consider that there was something more happening than respiration.

The scientists bought P. sinensis specimens at a market in Singapore and found ways to collect their urine. They attached a flexible latex tube to each underside. They discovered that the animals were getting rid of a vast majority of their urea, which is a major component of urine, through their mouths instead of their undersides.

The team speculates that this might be because the animals have to drink a lot of water to make urine, which can be unhealthy in salt water environments where these turtles spend most of their time. If they are just rinsing out the water around their mouths, they avoid having to get rid of the salt.

[lbryce]

Reading the title of this quaint little science news story an imperceptible yet palpable sense of deja vu came over me that had me absolutely certain I've experienced something eerily familiar not a day or two ago whereby I came across this strange creature, human-like in form, unintelligible, guttural sounds emanating from his mouth but mostly drooling some viscous, malodorous fluid that startled the crowd that began gathering around him,

He seemed to be trying to say something but between the occasional grunts and the drooling, nothing he uttered made the slightest sense and as the crowd began to disperse, he broke out in uncontrollable paroxysms of rantings and ravings and fits of laughter disappearing into the night.

Could it have been Biden with whom I somehow crossed paths with in some supra-natural, extra-sensory experience that has been offered as scientific rationale for deja vu ? I really don't know but the absolute fact is that the turtle in the pictures looks an awful like Joe Biden to me.

[blueunicorn6]

I think you nailed it.

[Elle Bee]

Joe Biden's Gaffes Call For A Thorough Neurological Examination ~ Forbes

Henry I. Miller, a physician, and the Robert Wesson Fellow in Scientific Philosophy and Public Policy at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution,ASKS:

Don’t voters have a right to know whether Biden is ill or merely unlikeable, impulsive and prone to deceitfulness?

.

[gundog]

Photo #2 is a snapping turtle. Most, if not all, aquatic turtles are capable of respiration through the blood vessel rich tissues of their cloaca. Wonder if this developed later. Spent lots of time with turtles as a kid, teen, young adult. The comparison to Biden is offensive. :)

[YHAOS]

"The comparison to Biden is offensive. :) "

I think it was meant to be offensive. Or, did you mean offensive to the turtle?

[lbryce]

I’m not at at all attempting to be glib. I actually really appreciate your contribution to my scientific knowledge but most people will never get to learn what you have just matter-of-factly imparted unto me, that is the wonder of nature to have endowed the species of turtle you are referring to, the evolutionary marvel of being able to breath through their cloaca is quite mind-boggling for too many reasons to get into at the moment.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks lbryce.