Turtle Rescue of the Hamptons passes milestone of 1,500 rescued turtles They are also tough. More than 80% of the turtle species known to have lived at the time of the dinosaurs survived a mass extinction event, the asteroid that killed off the dinosaurs, according to the American Museum of Natural History. Researchers believe the slow metabolism and aquatic lifestyles of turtles helped them survive that earth-changing event. “Turtles are very tough animals; if times get tough they can go into a state of [suspended] animation,” Tyler Lyson, a researcher from Yale University, told LiveScience in a 2011 article. Yes, turtles are tough — and vulnerable at the same time. Perhaps never more so than now.