Turtle With Green Mohawk Faces Extinction
On a list of endangered reptiles, the Mary river turtle turned heads, but it's only one of many facing extinction.
Unbeknownst to the Mary river turtle, the Australian species has been labelled a punk.
Perhaps it's the little green mohawk, made of algae strands that grow on its body, or the novel fact that it breathes through its genitals (sometimes for three days in a row)—but the Mary river turtle became a sensation after news came out that it was already on the road to extinction.
This week, conservation group EDGE—Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered—run by the Zoological Society of London updated their endangered species list. The organization ranks animals that are both at risk of extinction and evolutionarily distinct from other similar species.
The rankings are backed by a study published in the journal PLOS One, which
