It's possible that some readers of the article will interpret the phrase that way. For people with a less nuanced understanding of natural selection it suggests

It's possible that some readers of the article will interpret the phrase that way. For people with a less nuanced understanding of natural selection it suggests that evolution is a directed effort towards certain ends, as though turtles had a say in how their species evolved. Alternatively, that there is some other agency that is deliberately influencing the evolution of species. Personally I feel like the idea of evolution as a directed effort is a common misunderstanding of natural selection, and I wonder if better science reporting could start to mend those kinds of misconceptions.