Psst, hey smarty pants, which animal is part of a species that's been around as long as the dinosaurs, has a baby tooth that falls out when it's just one hour old, and can breathe not only through its mouth but also through its butt?
Got your answer? Let's all say it together on the count of three.
1, 2, 3, Testudonese!
Um, I don't think I heard anyone say what I just said.
Here, let's try again with an easier one.
Name an animal that does all of the above and has a round, hard domed shell.
Ready? 1, 2, 3, Testudonese!
Huh? Hmm, I heard a lot more answers this time, but it still didn't sound like the word I said.
What's going on? What's going on is they're saying turtle and you're saying Testudonese.
And while it might not be the same word, they mean basically the same thing.
Now, now, just a minute, turtle.
If any smarty pants said the word tortoise, that would also be right.
Because turtles like you and tortoises like me are both Testudonese.
Ah, you guys catch on fast, even if you're a little slow, moving.
But here's where things get a little tricky.
All tortoises are turtles, but not all turtles are tortoises.
What? Basically, a tortoise is a kind of turtle, the land kind.
Ahh. But both kinds of turtles make up the Testudonese species.
Turtle, tortoise, I'm glad you're here, because I have some questions I'd love to ask.
Hello, this is Chet Nickerson reporting live from the Testudonese relay race, where land and sea turtles team up to compete.
During this race, the tortoises compete on land, which is their territory, before passing the baton to the turtles who compete in the water.
Today's competitors are now making their way to the starting line, very slowly.
Sorry, trusting narrator, we can't talk now.
The race is about to start.
Yeah, I gotta get to the starting line, but we can chat after the race.
Uh, no offense, but I don't think this smarty -pants and I have time to wait all day for you turtles to finish a race.
No offense taken. I know we're slow.
I guess turtle can talk while I'm running and I can talk while they're swimming.
Oh, and speaking of swimming, you might not realize just how fast turtles can swim.
You tell him, tortoise.
Let's see if you can guess how fast turtles can swim.
Is it A, 5 -6 miles per hour, as fast as the average shark, and Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps?
B, 22 miles per hour, as fast as Olympic sprinter Florence Griffith -Joiner's 1988 world record 100 meter dash?
Or C, 68 miles per hour, as fast as a cheetah runs?
So, how fast can turtles swim?
Also, what are turtle shells made of, and do turtles really live inside their shells?
It's time for another whiff of science on...
Who's smarted? Who's smarted?
Who's smart? Is it you?
Is it me? Is it science or history?
Listen up! Everyone, we make smarting!
Lots of fun! Hey smarty fans, how would you like to show the world you're a Who's Smarted fan?
By ordering some official Who's Smarted merch from our smarty store.
We've got T -shirts, hoodies, towels, super soft blankets, stickers, mugs and more!
And, best of all, we're having a Black Friday sale where you can get 30 % off from now until December 2nd with promo code Friday.
So, go to who's smarted .com and click smarty store to get 30 % off all our merch, plus free shipping in the United States on orders of $30 or more.
That's who's smarted .com and click smarty store.
Use promo code Friday at checkout.
You can find turtles living almost anywhere in the world.
From sunny Florida to New York City's Central Park.
Hey, slowpoke, get out of the road!
Turtles make up one of Earth's oldest species, dating as far back as the dinosaurs.
There are over 300 different species of turtles, from the common box turtle to the nearly extinct green and leatherback turtles.
And there's a few characteristics about turtles that might surprise you.
For example, if I were to say, turtle, what do you picture in your mind?
Are you thinking about the hard shell they carry on their back and their slow, creeping pace?
And they're off to a slow start.
These tortoises are not fast.
Nope. But once a turtle like me is in the water, I'm capable of swimming up to 22 miles per hour.
As fast as Olympic sprinter Florence Griffith -Joyner.
And way faster than Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps.
Whoa. Wow. Is that what you guessed, smarty pants?
But what about land walking turtles or tortoises?
How fast do they run?
Or rather, creep? The average tortoise or land turtle mowsies along around .13 to .30 miles per hour.
That means it takes more than three hours to walk one mile.
Even we see turtles can walk faster than that at an average of three to four miles per hour.
But hey, all tortoises are slow.
So we still have a shot in this race.
Come on, tortoise! You can do it.
Whoa. I always thought turtles were the slow, silent types.
What was that sound?
Oh, that turtles may seem like quiet animals.
And we don't have vocal cords like humans, but we can still make noise.
Depending on the species, turtles can hiss, growl, cry, bark, or cluck like a chicken.
And we're not just doing it to hear ourselves talk.
Turtles make noises for specific reasons, like scaring off a predator or signaling their own attack.
Come on, tortoise! Shake a leg!
Would you look at that.
He just passed that 12 -inch marker.
Since we're going to be here a while, tell us how a turtle's life begins.
For millions of years, mama turtles have laid their eggs in a patch of sand on the beach by the sea, or in the ground if they're land turtles.
We're excellent at navigating, so we tend to lay our eggs in the exact spot where we were hatched.
The exact spot? Yup.
That's adorable. And then what?
Like buns in the oven, after the right amount of time at the right temperature, the baby turtles begin to hatch.
It generally takes between 45 and 75 days for an egg to hatch.
I've heard turtles hatch sooner in a warmer climate, and in colder temperatures, it takes longer for baby turtles to develop.
Facts, narrator. Oh, and the way turtles break out of their shells is super interesting.
I wish Tortoise could explain.
I mean, he's just crawling along slowly.
You think he'd mind if I ask questions while he...
races? Go for it. I better make my way down to the water for the swimming part of the race anyway.
Later. Bye! Good luck.
The tortoises are blazing their way towards the water.
And by blazing, I mean it's literally a slow crawl.
Hey, Tortoise, I don't mean to interrupt your race, but turtles said you guys hatch from your eggs in a really cool way.
It's true. We're all born with one special baby tooth that helps us bust out of our egg.
But since we don't need that tooth afterwards, it falls out in about an hour.
From there, we make our way into the world, eating, swimming, mating, and making baby turtles of our own.
When the next generation of bobbins is ready to lay their eggs, they head back to the same spot where they hatched.
And the circle of life continues.
But do you know how long turtles and tortoises live?
Hmm, what do you think, smartypants?
Is it 20 years? 40?
80? More? A lot more?
It's estimated sea turtles can live up to 80 years, but they can be pretty hard to track.
Ahhh. Tortoises are known to live longer, an average of 50 to 100 years.
Ooh. And some tortoise species, like the Galapagos tortoise, can live up to 250 years.
Whoa. Ooh, several tortoises have reached the water.
They're handing off the batons to the waiting sea turtles.
Look at them swim! Swim, turtle, swim!
Look at her go. Wow, she's really moving.
Tortoise, let's talk shells.
Us land turtles have shells that weigh between 5 and 25 pounds.
The bigger and older the turtle, the bigger and heavier the shell.
Shells size difference among turtle types.
Leatherback turtles could grow to be 6 feet long and weigh 1 ,000 pounds.
Sea turtles, on the other hand, have flatter, lighter shells to allow for smoother, thrifter swimming.
Ooh. Smarty pants. It may seem like turtles carry their homes on their backs, literally, but is that true?
Can all turtles pull their heads and limbs inside their shells?
Well, the answer is coming up right after this quick break.
This podcast is sponsored by Squarespace.
You know what me and the smarty team love most about having our Who Smarted website?
It's like having a digital home that's uniquely ours.
And with Squarespace's new design intelligence feature, creating that perfect space is easier than ever.
It combines decades of design expertise with cutting -edge AI to help anyone, even you, build a stunning website that truly reflects their vision.
Squarespace also makes it super easy to upload videos, organize your video library, and display your videos on easy -to -design, beautiful pages.
And if you're selling subscriptions or courses, Squarespace has you covered, too.
From one -time payments to recurring memberships and even an online course creator, Squarespace is one -stop shopping for everything you need to sell information online.
The best part? Everything just works seamlessly, from the beautiful design templates to the integrated payment systems.
It all feels effortless.
Head to squarespace .com for a free trial.
And when you're ready to launch, go to squarespace .com slash smarted to save 10 % off your first purchase of a website or domain.
That's squarespace .com slash smarted.
Now back to Who Smarted.
Smarty pants, which of the following statements is true?
A, only land turtles retreat inside their shells.
B, only sea turtles retreat into their shells.
Or C, no testudanies retreat into their shells.
It's just a myth. If you said A, only land turtles can retreat inside their shells, you're right.
Sea turtles don't have enough room in their flatter shells to pull their heads and limbs inside.
But things that can quickly swim away from both dangers, it's not a problem.
But for slow moving land turtles and tortoises like me, we rely on our shells to protect us from predators.
In fact, the shell is the primary characteristic that makes testudanies, well, testudanies.
That's because testudanies refers to any reptile with a bony outer shell.
You may not realize this, but the shell is part of our skeleton.
There's a bone that makes up the dome over my back and another connected bone that covers my belly.
The patterned and sometimes colorful part of my shell, you see, is actually a series of scutes which fit together like floor tiles and offer added protection.
Turtles don't shed their shells, but as we get older, we can shed our scutes.
The sea turtles are nearing the finish line.
It's anyone's race at this point.
And it's turtle number three via nose.
We did it. We won. Way to go, you two.
Good walking tortoise and good swimming turtle.
Thanks. Wow. You're really out of breath.
Yeah. Sea turtles are excellent swimmers, but unlike fish, we don't have gills, so we need to come up for air.
But I didn't see your head exit the water once.
That's because turtles can also breathe out of our butts.
Wait, you can butt breathe.
Okay, first of all, butt breathing is nothing like farting.
It's also different than regular air breathing.
Normally, sea turtles can hold their breath underwater for around 30 minutes.
But when we're sleeping or during brumation, we stay underwater much longer.
Ah, brumation is essentially the same as hibernation.
Mammals hibernate and reptiles like turtles brumate.
Butt breathing is a process that allows us to extract oxygen from the water so we can stay underwater for long periods of time.
And now it's time for the medal ceremony.
Will the winning team please climb onto the podium or just go anywhere near it?
This is literally taken forever.
Are you two crying?
Yeah, but we do it all the time.
If our eyes get dry or we get a speck of sand in them, it's not like we can rub our eyes.
Instead, our tears rinse our eyes.
Tears are also a way to balance our salt levels.
Sea turtles cry more than tortoises, because our drinking water is the salty ocean.
Our tears let us cry out the excess salt.
Oh, I see. I thought you might have been emotional about winning the race.
Reptiles aren't known for being emotional.
But if we were to get emotional, it would be about how turtles are on the endangered species list.
Ah, smarty pants. Did you know that many testudonese like the giant turtle and most sea turtles are considered endangered?
And the biggest threat to our extinction is humans.
No offense, trusty narrator.
None taken. So what could me and the smarty pants do to help save the turtles?
First, never buy a product or souvenir made from turtle shells.
Secondly, avoid plastics.
Especially at the beach.
Plastic bags, bottles, and straws can cause big problems for turtles who might mistake it for food or get tangled up in them.
Good pointers. So what do the winners of the relay race receive?
Oh, we don't need a prize.
We're just happy to celebrate.
This is Chet Nickerson with a big, big shout out to Miss Nightingale's fifth grade class in America's Kansas.
Any teacher who plays who's smarted in class gets an A plus from us.
This episode, Turtles, was written by Jenna Hoban and voiced by Jenna Hoban, Taya Garland, Adam Chet Davis, Max Kamaski, and Jerry Kolber.
Technical direction and sound design by Josh Ahn, who's smarted is recorded and mixed at the Relic Room Studios.
Our associate producer is Max Kamaski.
The theme song is by Brian Suarez, lyrics written and performed by Adam Tex Davis, who's smarted was created and produced by Adam Tex Davis and Jerry Kolber.
This has been an atomic entertainment production.
