Well, they do... but they're not alone! Some frogs, sea snakes, and salamanders also have adapted the ability to breath with their butt through a process called, cutaneous respiration through a unique orifice called a cloaca--don't worry, you don't have one--a sort of one-stop-shopping hole for everything coming in or going out of the animal.
While not all turtles are so lucky to breath from their butts, the Australian White-Throated Snapping Turtle brings in roughly 80% of the air it breaths through its butt.
And wait until you get a load of of the Mary River Turtle whose butt-breathing ability is no where near its coolest feature: these turtles sport bright green mohawks made of algae on their heads.
If you think turtles breathing out of their butts smells like magic, wait until you get a whiff of the warty comb jellyfish that has a disappearing butt... or the chicken turtle that tastes like chicken! Keep coming back to get curious about these curiously named animals with the coolest (and grossest) adaptations.
Stay curious with and learn about nature's nuttiest here on the Butt Breathing Blog!
Keep getting curious about animals with The Screaming Hairy Armadillo and its free Educator's Guide!
Thank you for your curiosity, stay curious, and let your curiosity lead your learning with more Curiosity-Based Learning content and activities from What If Curiosity!
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