As a turtle friend, have you ever heard of the Matamata tortoise? Don't get me wrong, it's not from Matamata, the cow-rich town in New Zealand's North Island that has an indissoluble bond with Hobbiton in The Lord of the Rings. Rather, it is a mysterious and unique creature from distant South America - the marta turtle. It is also what we often call a dead leaf turtle.
Marta Turtle: The invisibility of the Amazon. The name may not be familiar to most people, but it is one of the most unique and mysterious turtles in the world. They mainly inhabit slow-moving, shallow swamps, rivers, or streams, where the bottom is muddy and has a lot of leaf litter.
In order to be "invisible" in such a complex natural environment, the marta turtle is born with a flat, withered leaf shape, and it is almost impossible to spot them without looking closely. Therefore, everyone also calls it a dead leaf turtle, which resembles a dead leaf, just to better camouflage itself, hunting or hiding, which is a good situation.
Red Marta vs. Black Marta. The magic of the Marta turtle lies not only in its stealth ability, but also in its unique appearance and characteristics depending on the river basin.
Orinoco River System (Red Marta): The Marta tortoise carapace here has an oval shell, bright color, and almost no obvious dark spots on the abdominal carapace, like a dancer from an exotic land, elegant and charming.
Amazon River System (Black Marta): In contrast, the Marta turtle here is more deep and mysterious. Their dorsal armor is darker and more uneven, and their belly armor has large black spots, as if they are the marks of time, telling ancient legends.
Whether you like a black marta or a red marta depends on personal preference. If it's me, then I'll want them all, and what else to choose.
It is an "aquatic turtle" that is not very watery. Even though mata turtles are aquatic turtles, what you might not expect is that they are not very water-based. Turtle friends who have observed them swimming will know that they seem to be very clumsy, but fortunately they don't rely on speed to eat.
Adult marta turtles barely leave the water's bottom, and their long necks are long enough for them to poke their pointed snouts out of the water to breathe without having to go ashore as often to bask their backs. So you can also not prepare the sundeck.
This guy will be a giant in the future, and the little friends who raise it will have to pay attention. Due to the long incubation period of Marta eggs, it is said that it can be as long as 200 days, and it is difficult to hatch, which is one of the reasons why Marta has not been artificially bred on a large scale.
At the moment, Marta is still a small turtle species, and I don't know if you have ever stopped for it. Its mysterious smile used to be the same as Xiaoqing, a smiling turtle.