This animal is critically endangered. It resides in Southeast Asia, and residents of Thailand, China, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, the Philippines, and New Guinea consider encountering this remarkable turtle a stroke of luck. The rare species is named after Danish zoologist Theodore Edward Cantor. The Cantor’s giant softshell turtle (Pelochelys cantorii) is a motionless predator, paradoxical as that may sound. It spends 95 percent of its life sprawled out in sand or river mud. In its passive state, the turtle resembles a massive, leathery pancake with round, sorrowful eyes and a comical nose that resembles a double snout. However, once it spots prey, the animal swiftly extends its neck and leaps into action. With long claws and powerful jaws strong enough to crush bone, it is a formidable hunter.
The culinary preferences of the Cantor’s giant softshell turtle are quite diverse. It enjoys fish, crustaceans, mollusks, frogs, insects, birds, and even small mammals, as reported by Live Science. Unlike turtles with hard shells, Pelochelys cantorii has a leathery, flat shell that is green or brown in color. According to various sources, the giant Cantor’s turtle can grow to one to two meters in length and weigh between 50 to 100 kilograms. Like other species of softshell turtles, it has the ability to extract oxygen from water through its skin, allowing it to stay submerged for extended periods. However, this method provides only a limited amount of oxygen, so it must surface at least twice a day to breathe.
The Cantor’s giant softshell turtle is indeed a very rare species of fauna. For a time, it was even thought to be extinct. Between 1985 and 1995, only one specimen was found. In 2007, several individuals were spotted in the Mekong River in Cambodia. Recently, biologists were fortunate enough to discover a nesting site for this reptile in the southwestern Indian state of Kerala.