page_title: Cultural depictions of turtles
section_title: Oceania
hierarchical_section_title: Cultural depictions of turtles / In mythology, legends, and folklore / Oceania
caption_attribution_description: A rock painting of a turtle in what's known as X-ray style -- with some internal organs.
context_page_description: Turtles are frequently depicted in popular culture as easygoing, patient, and wise creatures. Due to their long lifespan, slow movement, sturdiness, and wrinkled appearance, they are an emblem of longevity and stability in many cultures around the world. Turtles are regularly incorporated into human culture, with painters, photographers, poets, songwriters, and sculptors using them as subjects. They have an important role in mythologies around the world, and are often implicated in creation myths regarding the origin of the Earth. Sea turtles are a charismatic megafauna and are used as symbols of the marine environment and environmentalism.
  As a result of its role as a slow, peaceful creature in culture, the turtle can be misconceived as a sedentary animal; however, many types of turtle, especially sea turtles, frequently migrate over large distances in oceans.
caption: Rock-painting-turtle, Kakadu National Park, Australia
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