The Turtle Hunter

Steve Irwin was more than a crocodile hunter. He was deeply passionate about the animal kingdom at large, and it’s fitting that a turtle he and his father discovered in 1990 has been honored with his name. Loren Coleman of Cryptomundo reports:

Television personality Steve “Crocodile Hunter” Irwin and his father, Bob, caught a unknown turtle on a fishing line during a camping trip in 1990. It was new to them, and thus Steve took photographs and sent them to turtle authority John Cann. After Irwin’s death, Cann determined the animal was a new species.

The common name is now “Irwin’s turtle” and the Latin name is Elseya irwini, a new species of Australian turtle. The female of the species has a pale head with a yellowish horny sheath on the crown. The type locality is the Burdekin River drainage, on the coast of Queensland.

[Source: Cryptomundo via The Anomalist]

[tags]turtle, sea turtle, sea tortoise, steve irwin[/tags]