Hardbacked Turtles
The Hardbacked Turtle is a very large species of sea turtle that dwells near the surface of the Shimmering Sea for many years. The Imperial scholars believe that they are able to filter large quantities of very small food from the water they drink, as well as feasting on fish that they catch. Because they spend a lot of time near the surface, over the years, the grooves in their shells have gathered and managed to hold lichen and moss that has, overtime, become soil on their backs that allow other plants to grow, their roots catching on the grooves of the shell to avoid being uprooted when the turtle descends beneath the water for a bit. It is thought that because of this, these turtles must be some of the oldest living creatures on Terraneus.
Though there are many images of cities and entire forests on the backs of the Hardbacked Turtles, there are no known instance of this. However, there have been many times that a ship caught sight of a few trees or bird resting among plants and thought themselves near an island, only to discover it was an exceptionally overgrown shell of a turtle.
