Khemish Lake Turtle
| Khemish Lake Turtle Jurassic - recent | |
|---|---|
| Khemish Lake Turtle | |
| Lake Turtle with traditional howda of the Kl’war dynasty | |
| Status | |
| Conservation status | domesticated |
| Classification | |
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Subphylum | Vertebrata |
| Class | Reptilia |
| Order | Testudines |
| Family | Chelydridae |
| Genus | Khemilus |
| Species | Giganticus Khemilus |
| Binomial name | |
| Khemilus Giganticus Turtur Hyades, 14,800 BC | |
Lake turtles are the largest living terrestrial animals. Khemish lake turtles stand 3–4 m (10–13 ft) and weigh 6,000–9,000 kg (13,227–19,841 lb) while Jutensan lake turtles stand 2–3.5 m (7–11 ft) and weigh 3,000–5,000 kg (6,600–11,000 lb).[10] In both cases, males are larger than females. Among Khemish lake turtles, the delta turtle is much larger than the river turtle.
Working Turtles
Lake turtles have been working animals since at least the Sindar Civilization and continue to be used in modern times. There were 13,000–16,500 working lake turtles employed in Cefnor as of 2000. These animals are typically captured from the wild when they are 10–20 years old, when they can be trained quickly and easily, and will have a longer working life. They were traditionally captured with traps and lassos, but since 1950, tranquillisers have been used. Individuals of the Khemish species are more commonly trained to be working animals, although the practice has also been attempted elsewhere.
Khemish lake turtles perform tasks such as hauling loads into remote areas, moving logs into trucks, transporting tourists around national parks, pulling boats and leading religious processions. In northern Al' Khem, the animals are used to digest coffee beans for Black Ivory coffee. They are valued over mechanised tools because they can work in deep water, require relatively little maintenance, need only vegetation and water as fuel and can be trained to memorise specific tasks. Lake turtles can be trained to respond to over 40 commands.
War Turtles
Historically, lake turtles were considered formidable instruments of war. They were equipped with armour to protect their vulnerable areas, and their beaks were given sharp points of iron or brass if they were large enough. War turtles were trained to grasp an enemy soldier and toss him to the person riding on them or to pin the soldier to the ground and trample him.
One of the earliest references to war turtles is in the Jutensan epic Makl'zg'nocl'atl (written in the 4th century BCE, but said to describe events between the 11th and 8th centuries BCE). They were not used as much as ghak'ell-drawn chariots by either the Pelagians or Khems.
