This special specimen diverged from other species 40 million years ago.
For such an ancient turtle, funnily enough, they were only properly described by scientists 25 years ago.
These endangered animals are distinct in many ways, but perhaps attract the most attention for their punk hairdo.
Photo:Stock Photosfrom Rob Downer/Shutterstock
Mary River turtles will often have what looks like a green mop of hair.
These turtles make a favorite landing spot for the algae as they spend much of their time underwater.
That’s because special glands allow it to absorb oxygen with its cloacathe opening for reproduction and excretion.
Incredibly, these turtles were sold into pet stores en masse throughout the 1960s and 1970s.
At the time, they were called Penny-turtles.
For 20 years he pursued leads to discover where the turtles found in pet shops in Victoria came from.
Unfortunately, the huge demand for these turtles as pets is one of the main reasons for their decline.
This, coupled with habitat loss due to the building of dams, has been devastating for the population.
Currently, there are only about 10,000 Mary River turtles left in the wild.
Conservationists are currentlyworking to protect the speciesand bring its population numbers back up.
