#EcoTrends | Netizens Surprised With Bright #Yellow Colour of #RareTurtle Rescued in West Bengal

https://weather.com/en-IN/india/environment/news/2020-10-31-netizens-surprised-with-bright-yellow-colour-of-rare-turtle

(: @deva_iitkgp) / Twitter)

Nature is full of wonders, and we are yet to discover many of them. Recently, residents spotted a rare yellow turtle from Burdwan village pond in West Bengal, this Tuesday, October 27.

This is the second such incident, while the first yellow one was spotted in Balasore district, Odisha back in July 2020.

After the rescue, the pictures of the rare yellow turtle were posted on Twitter by Indian Forest Service officer Debashish Sharma on Tuesday. The turtle has once again become an online sensation, with nearly two thousand likes.

The rare colour of the turtle is attributed to the deficiency of pigment called tyrosine, which is present in high amounts in reptiles including crocodiles.

Experts say that the absence of colouring pigment is probably due to genetic mutation or congenital disorder.

In her post, Wildlife Biologist Sneha Dharwadkar commented that the rescued turtle is the yellow morph of albino Indian flapshell turtle. Moreover, it's not just that specific parts of the turtle are yellow but the whole shell and body of the appear to be of the same colour.

These turtle species, Indian flapshell turtle or Lissemys punctata, can be commonly found in South Asian countries like Pakistan, Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar. The species of turtle have softshell and mostly live in freshwater ecosystems.

The turtles are omnivores and usually devour frogs, snails and aquatic vegetation. In 2016, a green albino turtle was spotted on an Australian beach.

IFS Susanta Nanda ( @susantananda3) posted the initial footage of the first yellow turtle spotted in Odisha back in July, and soon the images went viral on social media sites.

Due to its rare appearance, the turtle has left netizens surprised. The photos of the turtle have been widely shared on the microblogging sites. Here are some reactions from the Twitteratis.