I have often wondered whether or not turtles are able to jump. After all, they have 4 legs that they can move, and they are not that heavy, even if they have a big shell on their back. So I decided to do some research and finally answer the question, can turtles jump? Here is what I found out.
Turtles are able to jump, but their heavy shell and inflexible body don’t make it easy for them. Since turtles spend most of their time in water they don’t have the necessary conditions to jump. But when they are on land they will occasionally jump, especially when they feel that they are in danger.
Physically turtles have everything that they need to jump, they have 4 legs, that they can move, and they have enough muscles to jump. Most people believe that turtles are unable to jump due to the weight of their shell, but that is not necessarily a problem. So let’s take a quick look at how turtles jump.
Things That Influence How a Turtles Jumps
Turtles are quadrupedal, this means that they use 4 legs to sustain themselves and that they can use all 4 of them to jump. The fact that they are quadrupedal also means that their weight is distributed differently than how the weight is distributed for humans.
Turtles have most of their weight very close to the ground, and this is not the most useful thing when it comes to jumping, but it’s not necessarily something that can stop them from jumping.
Now let’s talk a little about the shell. Most people believe that the shell is the heaviest part of the turtle, and that is the reason why they can’t jump. But that is not necessarily true. For the majority of turtles, the weight doesn’t represent the majority of their mass. Even if turtle shells cover most of their body they are not that heavy when you compare them to the muscles and organs inside the body of a turtle. For most turtles, the shell represents only between 25% and 35% of their entire weight.
There are a few turtle species out there that will eventually end up with huge shells that make it impossible for them to jump, but this doesn’t apply to small or medium-sized turtles. So for red-eared sliders, box, map, mud, snapping, and for many more turtles, the shell is not that heavy when you compare it with the rest of the body.
Now, speaking of what’s inside the turtle’s body. There are a lot of muscles under that shell, and those muscles are always carrying the turtle everywhere. Due to the shape of the turtle’s body, when a turtle moves it will use a lot of muscles just to take a few steps. So we can definitely say that all the muscles are well trained to handle all the weight of a turtle.
Now let’s see how turtles jump.
How Turtles Jump
When turtles jump they will bend their back legs and slightly extend their front legs while still keeping them bent a little. After the turtle gets into this position, the turtle will push with all four legs and propel itself forward.
This is how most quadrupedal animals will do when they want to jump. What makes it different for the turtle is that they don’t have a flexible body, so they can’t bend their body to increase the jumping distance. The fact that turtles don’t have a flexible body is what makes it the hardest for them to jump. But they are still able to do it.
How far can turtles jump
Most medium-sized turtles will be able to jump anywhere from 3 to 4 inches ( 7 to 10 centimeters ). But for smaller turtles, like the box turtle, the distance will be smaller, usually around 2 inches ( 5 cm ).
I know it doesn’t seem too much like a jump, but when turtles jump their entire body won’t be making contact with any surface, and that is what a jump is. A jump is not defined by the height that you reach, or the distance, if you use your body to propel yourself in the air, and you are not making contact with any surface, then you are jumping.
But under certain circumstances, turtles are able to jump farther. If the turtle is running, before it jumps the distance will be a lot bigger, than it would be if the turtle was standing before the jump.
It’s just like when you throw a ball with your hand. If your hand moves fast when you throw it, the ball will go very far, but if you throw it while your hand is moving slowly it will travel a smaller distance.
Now let’s look at some examples of turtles jumping.
Examples of Turtles Jumping
Here are a few videos from YouTube that show turtles jumping. And to make things simpler for you, I set the videos to start a few seconds before the turtle’s jump.
Why Don’t Turtles Jump More Often?
Even if turtles are able to jump, they are not very good at it. So it won’t have any benefit for them to do so.
For most animals jumping is useful, cats use it to reach inaccessible places, lions use it to catch prey, frogs use it to run from danger, monkeys use it to jump from tree to tree, dogs use it to catch frisbees, we use it to jump over puddles of water so we don’t get our feet wet. No matter how trivial some animals use the ability to jump, it still offers them some benefits in that situation. But turtles won’t get any benefit in most situations.
Snapping turtles are usually known to jump when they are being disturbed. They do this because the jump allows them to move a little faster in that situation, and offers them an element of surprise. Other turtles probably do this as well, but at the moment there aren’t too many videos of turtles doing so.
Other than to defend themselves, turtles don’t have any reason to jump. It has no benefit for them.
How We Jump and Things That Influence How We Jump
It’s important to know a little about how we jump because if we do, we can better understand how turtles are able to jump.
When we jump we bend our knees and then we use our muscles to push ourselves upwards into the air.
The more power we use when we push ourselves into the air, the further we will jump. How much power we use depends on how much muscle we have, but not just the leg muscles, when we jump we use a lot more. When we jump we use the shoulder muscles, arm muscles, core muscles, leg muscles, calf muscles, glute muscles, and of course the back muscles.
When we jump we also have 5 directions where we can do so, up, forward, backward, to the left, and to the right. And depending on the direction we choose we will use some muscles more than the others.
Another important thing that we have to talk about is the shape of our body, which is very different from the shape of a turtle. We, humans, are bipedal, which means that we have two legs that we use to stand up, and our weight is distributed very differently than the weight of a quadrupedal animal. We, humans, have most of our weight near the torso and the stomach, so it’s pretty far away from the ground. This allows us to have an advantage over quadrupedal animals when it comes to jumping.
Related Question
Can turtles run? Yes, turtles are able to run. They usually only run when they are in danger.
Can all turtles swim? No. Not all turtles are able to swim. Tortoises are a type of turtle that lives on land. Most aquatic turtles have feet that are somewhat similar to flippers, which allows them to swim properly. Tortoises on the other hand have feet that are more similar to the ones of an elephant, and they are not good for swimming.
Can turtles turn over? Yes, some of them can. It usually depends on the shape of the carapace, if the turtle will be able to turn or not. Turtles with rounder carapaces will find it easier to turn over if they have to. But turtles with a flatter carapace will have a harder time turning over. But it’s possible to turn over no matter what kind of carapace they have.
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