Tortoises have a reputation for being a little slow , but these armored reptiles can really be pretty quick when they want to ( pickle with the turt and you get hurt ) . Videos of dancing tortoise have become something of an cyberspace sensation , often seen shaking their booties under watercourse of water . The welcome content is mostly seen in one species : the radiate tortoise whose rainfall dance is something to behold .
While the behavior has been spotted in a few tortoise species , radiate tortoises are the most notable booty mover and shaker . They are quite heavy as tortoises go , matter around 16 kilograms ( 36 pounds ) with leg long enough to plagiarise their body completely off the ground . Their chocolate-brown shells are quite bulbous and spring up up like a bonce on their back with yellow stripes that await like the Sun ’s beam , inspiring their vulgar name
unluckily , this magnetic mintage is criticallyendangeredin the wilderness , but they have ascertain success inbreeding programsthat are able to wield familial diverseness among captive animals . One such menagerie tortoise is Turnip , a 12 - yr - old female Madagascar radiate tortoise from the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga , USA . Turnip of late became asocial media starfor evince off the species ' most notable trait : the radiated tortoise rainfall terpsichore .
The exact motivating behind the pelting terpsichore has n’t yet been pinned down by scientists , but it ’s think to be a incontrovertible response owe to the fact that , in captivity , these animals appear to essay out wiz that work on the unsatiable urge to shake it .
" No real purpose for the conduct is known as far as I know , ” Tennessee Aquarium suppose in an electronic mail to IFLScience . “ They do have feeling in their shells and will often search out sensations , like raindrops or low hanging branches . Here at the aquarium we sometimes give them scrub brushing to scratch against and they do this behavior , but not quite as enthusiastically as they do with the showers . This is what makes us trust that they do really revel it , because they actively look for it out . ”
" A lot of mass are surprised to feel they can feel through their shells , " Tennessee Aquarium Animal Care Specialist Maggie Sipe said . " We stress to equalise it to what you feel through your fingernail if something equal it . "
Madagascar , where Turnip ’s variety hail from , has a tropic climate . The wet time of year is in the summer and stretch from November to March , whereas April to October conditions are mostly dry and modest . It could be , then , that the arrival is a welcome modification in the weather for these creature , or that the wiggle is a way of shake with child monsoon rain from its back . While a confirmed explanation for this behavior remains to be see , one affair that ’s for sure is that Turnip ’s got moves .
“ All of our radiated tortoises do this to some degree , but white turnip really “ turns it up , ” ” Sipe , who film the now - celebrated video , said . “ Our older female person does n’t dance so much as she just raises up on to her tiptoes and stretches out . The two boys in the habitat with her chase me around when I have the hose out because I believe they ’ve learned what it mean , so it ’s hard to get videos of them doing the dance because they come right up to me for shower . ”
In the immortal words ofTaylor Swift , heartbreaker gon na ’ break . Fakers gon na ’ fake . Baby , Turnip ’s just gon na ’ shake .
