We found 2 "turtles" hanging out together in our side yard today. A little research later, we found they are identified as a box tortoise, due to the underside (the belly part) having a hinged flap that allows them to pull in all their limbs and close up the spaces completely. So fun to live in a zoo!
4 comments:
Ok, so "tortoise" means they can retract completely into their shell.
What about "turtle" and "terrapin"?
Dang, now I have to go look it up myself.....
Ok, here's what Wikipedia's taught me:
"British English normally describes these reptiles as turtles if they live in the sea; terrapins if they live in fresh or brackish water; or tortoises if they live on land. However, there are exceptions to this where American or Australian common names are in wide use, as with the Fly River turtle.
American English tends to use the word turtle for all freshwater species, as well as for certain land-dwelling species (e.g. box turtles). Oceanic species are usually referred to as sea turtles, and tortoise is restricted to members of the "true" tortoise family, Testudinidae. The name "terrapin" is typically reserved only for the brackish water diamondback terrapin, Malaclemys terrapin; the word terrapin being derived from the Algonquian word for this animal."
So to sum up:
Over here in America, we call all freshwater creatures "turtles", and ones in the ocean are also "turtles". Ones that live strictly on land (other than the box "turtle") are called "tortoises", and "terrapin" is used only in two very specific cases.
Whew.
Yes, we came up w/the same info. It really is muddied up huh? Here I thought a turtle was a turtle.
Hi Jen! Love your blog. Love the turtles, tortoises, terrapins... whatever they are. Love your home. Love your kids (Baby Michael looks like a little you)! Seems like all is well with you guys which is great to hear.
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