{"id":467,"date":"2024-08-12T16:04:43","date_gmt":"2024-08-12T21:04:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/decatur-parks.org.staging3.juiceboxint.com\/scovill-zoo\/?page_id=467"},"modified":"2024-08-12T16:04:44","modified_gmt":"2024-08-12T21:04:44","slug":"turtles-tortoises","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/decatur-parks.org\/scovill-zoo\/animals-education\/animals\/reptiles\/turtles-tortoises\/","title":{"rendered":"Turtles & Tortoises"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Kingdom: Animals
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Chelonia
Family: 11
Species: 294<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Call them what you wish, turtles, tortoises, or terrapins, these fascinating reptiles all belong to the taxonomic order Chelonia, which includes about 250 species. In Australia, most people refer to all Chelonians as tortoises. Britons use \u201cturtle\u201d to refer to saltwater species, and \u201cterrapin\u201d for freshwater Chelonians. Most commonly in America, \u201cturtle\u201d describes aquatic or semi-aquatic Chelonians, and \u201ctortoise\u201d is used for land-dwellers. Turtles tend to have webbed feet and a streamline body shape, perfect for swimming. Tortoises, because of their terrestrial nature, do not have webbed feet and, in fact, their feet are round and stumpy for walking on land. Also, their shells are more mound-shaped since they do not need to be streamline for ease of swimming. So, where does \u201cterrapin\u201d fit in all of this? Terrapin, which is derived from an Indian word meaning \u201clittle turtle,\u201d generally refers to Chelonians that spend time both on land and in water. Generally, terrapins are found in brackish, swampy regions, and never stray far from bodies of water. Also, \u201cterrapin\u201d is often used for Chelonians that are harvested for meat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n