Do turtles breathe through their butts?

 Sorta.


Some turtles are known to practice 'cloacal breathing'- absorbing oxygen through air in the cloaca- the single opening used for excretion, urination, and reproduction. This is documented in the Fitzroy River turtle (Rheodytes leukops) and may occur in others.


HOWEVER- to be accurate...

  1. turtles don't have 'butts' in the sense of two large masses of muscle and tissue surrounding the anus.
  2. even if we call that area a 'butt', turtles do not breathe through the skin and muscle there. Mammals do not excrete through their 'butts', they do it through the anus- a different body part!

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