

Oh what a beautiful flower that is. Oh hang on, that doesn't look quite right...
No, what you're actually looking at in the amazing video below is the papillae inside a Loggerhead turtle's throat.
While it's slightly gruesome, it's also quite incredible. The papillae are covered in a mucus that enables the turtle to filter out anything that's inedible; either invertebrate shells, or actual rubbish in the sea. It's sort of like the villi in human digestion, only much larger scale (and looks like a Sarlacc from Star Wars).
The footage was taken as part of a Loggerhead necropsy at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution; something of a treat for the team, as Loggerhead turtles are an endangered species. We assume/hope the turtle died of natural causes first.
If you've got the stomach for it, there are a few more photos from the procedure below (and more here). But first, here's a gif to watch one more time.
[via Sploid]
Get exclusive shortlists, celebrity interviews and the best deals on the products you care about, straight to your inbox.

As Content Director of Shortlist, Marc likes nothing more than to compile endless lists of an evening by candlelight. He started out life as a movie writer for numerous (now defunct) magazines and soon found himself online - editing a gaggle of gadget sites, including TechRadar, Digital Camera World and Tom's Guide UK. At Shortlist you'll find him mostly writing about movies and tech, so no change there then.
-
Danny Boyle on 28 Years Later sequel The Bone Temple, Cillian Murphy’s return — and THAT shocking pregnancy
The British director spills the beans on what's coming next for his zombies-in-the-countryside trilogy — along with some pretty big sequel spoilers...
-
Whisky whilst you walk? Scapa whisky launches Sanctuary Trails with hiking app
It’s a walk not a stumble