If you happened to chance upon a flat yellow looking disc that could easily be mistaken for a melted cheese omelette or an evenly distributed egg yolk, we wouldn’t blame you. In fact, this is what much of the internet assumed when photos of a rare yellow turtle surfaced online. By Amitha Ameen
Today a Yellow Turtle was rescued from a Pond in Burdwan,WB. It’s one kind of a rarely occuring Flapshell Turtle. @ParveenKaswan @SanthoshaGubbi @RandeepHooda @rameshpandeyifs pic.twitter.com/enTyNAkxmP
— Debashish Sharma, IFS (@deva_iitkgp) October 27, 2020
News of the rare yellow turtle, an internet sensation by now, has surfaced for the second time in three months. Not much information is available about the recent finding except that the turtle was found in West Bengal.
The same was confirmed by an Indian Forest Officer, Debashish Sharma, as he tweeted, “Today a Yellow Turtle was rescued from a Pond in Burdwan, WB. It’s one kind of a rarely occurring Flapshell Turtle.” Earlier in July, a yellow turtle was spotted by a farmer who was working in his fields in the village of Sujanpur, in Odisha.
Have you ever seen a yellow turtle? pic.twitter.com/4SfxCDXT4g
— Sean (@datson1992) November 2, 2020
The Flapshell turtle, whose scientific name is Lissemys punctata is usually found in South Asian countries like India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar. But the yellow colour is a rare variant of the Flapshell turtle, which is why spotting it for the second time in a matter of three months has caused a furore among netizens.
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The yellow colour is due to a type of albinism, a genetic disorder that causes a lack of body pigmentation. Researchers added that this chromatic leucism can result in many interesting colour variants that will make the turtles go viral, but it can cause the animals a big disadvantage in their natural environment.
Related: Here’s Why A Trek In Sandakphu, West Bengal Should Be On Your Bucket List
