Rebecca Manzi New research shows that red-footed tortoises can experience lasting moods, challenging long-held beliefs about reptile emotions and opening new questions about animal consciousness.
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You’ve always thought of turtles as stoic, slow-moving, emotionally detached creatures? Think again.
A new study from the University of Lincoln has shaken up what we thought we knew about reptilian behavior. Researchers found that red-footed tortoises (Chelonoidis carbonaria) are capable of experiencing long-lasting emotional states, much like mammals and birds. That’s right — your backyard turtle may be feeling more than it’s letting on.
This research, published in Biology Letters, casts a fresh light on the emotional consciousness of reptiles, a category traditionally viewed as cold-blooded in more ways than one.
Testing turtle emotions? there’s science behind it
To get these results, scientists applied a method known as the cognitive bias test — a tool commonly used to assess mood in both humans and animals. The idea is surprisingly intuitive: if you’re in a good mood, you’ll probably interpret ambiguous situations more positively. If you’re in a bad mood, you’re likely to lean pessimistic.
So how do you ask a turtle how it feels?
You don’t. You observe.
The team worked with 15 tortoises, placing them in either enriched environments — think more stimulation, more objects to explore — or more barren setups. Then they presented the animals with ambiguous stimuli, like food placed in uncertain positions. The tortoises in the more stimulating environments tended to approach these situations with more enthusiasm, suggesting a fundamentally more optimistic mindset.
And in case you’re wondering, these aren’t fleeting reactions. According to the researchers, the tortoises’ behavior indicated a stable, underlying emotional state. This isn’t just about one happy turtle on a lucky Tuesday — it’s about long-term emotional tone.
Stress and optimism: a clear emotional link
To dive deeper, the researchers ran another test — this one looking at anxiety levels. Tortoises were introduced to new, unfamiliar objects or surroundings, and their reactions were telling. The individuals that had previously shown optimistic reactions in the bias test were also less anxious in these novel environments.
The implication is clear: reptilian behavior is shaped by internal emotional states. That’s a big deal for a group of animals we’ve long assumed were more machine than mind.
Why this matters — for science and for pet owners
This isn’t just an academic curiosity. In a world where reptiles are becoming increasingly common as pets, understanding their emotional lives should change how we think about their welfare — both in captivity and in the wild.
As the lead researchers argue, “Our findings indicate that tortoises are capable of emotional responses that are influenced by their surroundings, which has major implications for how we care for and house them.”
The fact that such emotional capacity exists in reptiles — an evolutionary branch distant from mammals and birds — also hints at something even bigger: the origins of emotion might stretch much further back in evolutionary history than we previously imagined.
In other words, the roots of feelings might not be uniquely mammalian at all.
And maybe, just maybe, that turtle in your garden isn’t ignoring you. It’s just in a mood.
Source: Animal Cognition
