The Economic Times

Science says some turtles can breathe through their rear ends, but the real biology is stranger than you can imagine

What these turtles do is considerably more complex than the phrase breathing through their rear ends suggests. They move water over specialized tissues packed with blood vessels, allowing dissolved oxygen to diffuse into the bloodstream. As oxygen levels change, they can also adjust their circulation and metabolism, while colder temperatures slow their metabolic rate and reduce the amount of oxygen their bodies need.