A female Yangtze giant softshell turtle is seen in the mud at Suzhou Zoo on May 6, 2015 in Suzhou, Jiangsu province of China. Visual China Group via Getty Images She was first found swimming in ...

Swinhoe’s softshell turtles, which can weigh more than 370 pounds, be more than 6-feet long and live for over 100 years, hold a special cultural significance in Vietnam, where they are known as ...

But the turtle died the following day. Yangtze giant softshell turtles originated in China, making their homes in the Yangtze River and Taihu Lake, according to the People's Daily.

Image by Phuongcacanh via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0). The Yangtze giant softshell turtle used to live in China’s Red River basin and lower Yangtze River as well as northern Vietnam.

In 2018 Texas Parks and Wildlife issued a total ban on commercial hunting of the spiny softshell and three other turtle species. Today the reptiles are thriving across the state’s rivers, lakes ...

Story by Lydia Smith • 4mo Name: Cantor's giant softshell turtle (Pelochelys cantorii) Where it lives: Rivers in South and Southeast Asia What it eats: Fish, crustaceans, mollusks, frogs ...