Tortoise or turtle?
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This is an endangered species and one of the most illegally traded in the world.
Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons
Denise published a lovely post today about rescuing a turtle. It brought to mind again a question which often puzzles me, as so many people refer to all such hard-shelled animals as turtles. What is the difference between a tortoise and a turtle?
In my simple mind, I surmised that a tortoise is a land animal, and a turtle is an amphibious creature, at home on land or in water, but mostly in water. I turned to the purveyor of all knowledge and discovered the following.
Turtles are found all over the world, apart from Antarctica, while tortoises originate in warmer climates. There are no native tortoises in Australasia.
Tortoises only live on land and cannot live in water. They go to water to drink, but cannot swim or hold their breath for more than a few minutes, so quickly drown if immersed in water. They are also herbivorous, while turtles are omnivorous. Naturally, there are exceptions, and some tortoises have been observed eating birds.
Turtles shed their shells, but tortoises don’t. A tortoise shell grows constantly, providing further protection, and is more dome-shaped than most turtles’ shells.
Turtles can live for up to fifty years, but tortoises have a much longer life expectancy. Jonathan, a Seychelles giant tortoise, is about 193 years old and is the oldest living land animal. He lives on the island of St Helena.
Just to confuse matters, all tortoises are turtles, but not all turtles are tortoises. They all have hard shells and belong to the Chelonia family. The major way to distinguish tortoises and turtles is to look at their feet. Turtles have webbed feet or flippers, and cross land by dragging themselves instead of stepping. Tortoises have elephantine legs, ending in thick claws, which they use for digging and traversing rough ground.
These reptiles have extremely small brains, but can learn from experience, and recognise people and places known to them.
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