{"id":31542,"date":"2023-08-04T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-04T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/041d997d-9089-47cf-a012-464546246cb3"},"modified":"2023-08-04T17:38:26","modified_gmt":"2023-08-04T15:38:26","slug":"heres-how-the-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-would-do-in-a-real-life-fight","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/rss_feed\/heres-how-the-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-would-do-in-a-real-life-fight\/","title":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s how the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles would do in a real-life fight"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Stephen Kelly\n <\/p>

Published: Friday, 04 August 2023 at 15:00 PM<\/p>

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Here\u2019s how the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles would do in a real-life fight<\/h1>

You could be forgiven for thinking that the idea of teenage turtles who mutate into humanoid ninjas is a tad far-fetched. But you may be shell-shocked to learn that actually, in reality\u2026 it is.<\/p>

\u201cFirst of all,\u201d says Jeanette Wyneken<\/a>, professor of biological sciences at Florida Atlantic University, \u201cthe chromosomes of a turtle and of a human don\u2019t match up. Turtles have more chromosomes than we do. And if your chromosomes don\u2019t match up, you often end up with genetic abnormalities called a \u2018teratology\u2019, a term that literally means monsters.\u201d<\/p>

But let\u2019s ignore all of that. Let\u2019s suppose, somehow, there are mutant turtles that stand on two legs and say things like, \u201ccowabunga, dude\u201d. Would their turtle physiology be able to adapt to humanoid anatomy?<\/p>

\u201cOne big change,\u201d says Wyneken, \u201cis that their centre of gravity would shift from their shoulders (while on four feet) to their hips when they stand on two.\u201d For a conventional four-legged turtle, this would mean toppling over from the weight of their shell, but \u201cfor humanoid turtles it\u2019s not much of an issue,\u201d says Wyneken, \u201cbecause it would be more like a human wearing a big backpack.\u201d<\/p>

The major difference, however, is that when a human wears a big backpack, that backpack doesn\u2019t also contain their ribs and spine. Whereas with turtles, the vertebral column is part of the shell; they can\u2019t take it off. According to Ivana Lezcano Serra<\/a>, Wyneken\u2019s graduate student researcher, who specialises in turtle shells, this fact makes the new animated film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem<\/em> difficult to take seriously.<\/p>

\u201cIn the trailer, they\u2019re jumping around and doing all of these acrobatic stunts. But that fusion between spine and shell would make that very difficult,\u201d she says. \u201cThey simply wouldn\u2019t have the kindof flexible spine that would allow them to do backflips.\u201d<\/p>

So they can\u2019t be mutants and they can\u2019t be ninjas. Can these turtles even be teenagers?!<\/p>

\u201cThe new movie really focuses on the fact that they\u2019re young teenagers,\u201d says Lezcano Serra, \u201cand that poses a problem for their abilities. The older turtles get, the more developed and ossified their shell becomes. They have more mineral in the bone. Younger turtles \u2013 their shells aren\u2019t going to be as hard. It\u2019s not going to protect them as much as they would probably want.\u201d<\/p>

Even as adults, their shells wouldn\u2019t be bulletproof, says Lezcano Serra. \u201cThey\u2019re not like Captain America\u2019s shield. Shells protect turtles against things like shark attacks, but what a lot of people don\u2019t appreciate is that it isn\u2019t through strength, but flexibility. Steel can resist forces 1,000 times better than a shell can. A shell is more like a squeezy ketchup bottle: it deforms and then gets back into shape.\u201d<\/p>

This flexibility not only applies to their shells, but also to their diet and environment. Red-eared slider turtles \u2013 the subspecies that the TMNT were originally based on \u2013 \u201ccan live just about anywhere there\u2019s water and food,\u201d says Wyneken, including the sewers of New York. But what of the teenage turtles\u2019 favourite food, pizza?<\/p>

\u201cRed-eared slider turtles eat a variety of things,\u201d says Wyneken. \u201cThe cheese may not be great for their digestive system. The carbs in the crust? Maybe in limited quantities. The vegetables would probably be fine. Turtles will eat tomato; just don\u2019t give it to them in the form of pizza. Could they eat pizza and survive? I think so. Could they eat it and be healthy? Not in the long run.\u201d<\/p>

About our experts<\/strong><\/h4>

Jeanette Wyneken<\/strong> is a professor of biological sciences at Florida Atlantic University. She is expert in vertebrate morphology, physiological ecology, behavioural ecology, and marine conservation biology. Her research on sea turtles has been published in journals including the Journal of Herpetology<\/em>, Endangered Species Research<\/em> and PLoS One<\/em>.<\/p>

Ivana Lezcano Serra<\/strong> is a graduate student pursuing a PhD under the guidance of Prof Jeanette Wyneken. During her master\u2019s research, Lezcano Serra investigated how incubation temperatures affect the cognitive ability of loggerhead sea turtles.<\/p>

Read more:<\/strong><\/p>