What's the difference between a turtle and a tortise?

Question

I thought it was that a turtle had flippers and a flatter shell and a tortise had 'feet' and a rounder shell, but I could be wrong.

Answer 1

It depends who you ask... common names are poor and are cofnusing. In North America, Turtles refers to all those shelled chelonians (sea, freshwater, semi-aquatic, land), but in Brittain, tortoises means all shelled chelonians.

Here is what most people agree to:

Sea turtles: flippers, streamlined shell, and live in the sea. They come on lany only to lay eggs.

Aquatic turtles: webbed feet, somewaht streamlined shell, and live in freshwater. They must have water to swallow food, cannnot eat on land. They will come out to bask on rocks and logs. They come on land to lay eggs. Examples: Red Eared Slider (RES), Painted turtles, Snapping turtles, map turtles, cooters, musk turtles, mud turtles, etc.
http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/world_of_turtles/index.html

Semi-Aquatic turtles: they live both on land and water. The can eat both both land and water. Shells are less streamlined. Examples: Wood turtle, Blandings
http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/world_of_turtles/North_American_Wood_Turtles_-_Glyptemys_insculpta/index.html


Terrestrial turtles: turtles that live in land and go in water to cool off. Poor swimmers and domed shell. Examples: american box turtles and Asian box turtles
http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/world_of_turtles/index-2.html

Tortoises: Land dwelling, with stumpy legs and cannot swim. Shell is highly domed. Examples: Hermann's, Greek, sulcata, etc.
http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/world_of_turtles/index-2.html

Land turtles and tortoises are similar to most people, but it's more morphological differences that seperates their categories.

As for the term terrapin, it is some times used synomously with aquatic turtles, but there are two specific species that are called terrapins, Diamondback terrapins, who live in brackish water (half sat and half freshwater) along the eastern and southern coast of the US (from NY to TX). And the other one is in Asia.

It's all very confusing and most hobbyiest and keepers and breeders don't like these common names and designations. That is why we use scientific names and family names (Testudinidae, Emydidae, Trionychidae, etc.).

Cheers

Answer 2

Turtle— Spends most of its life in the water. Turtles tend to have webbed feet for swimming. Sea turtles (Cheloniidae family) are especially adapted for an aquatic life, with long feet that form flippers and a streamlined body shape. They rarely leave the ocean, except when the females come ashore to lay their eggs. Other turtles live in fresh water, like ponds and lakes. They swim, but they also climb out onto banks, logs, or rocks to bask in the sun. In cold weather, they may burrow into the mud, where they go into torpor until spring brings warm weather again.

Tortoise— A land-dweller that eats low-growing shrubs, grasses, and even cactus. Tortoises do not have webbed feet. Their feet are round and stumpy for walking on land. Tortoises that live in hot, dry habitats use their strong legs to dig burrows. Then, when it’s too hot in the sun, they slip underground.

Terrapin— Spends its time both on land and in water, but it always lives near water, along rivers, ponds, and lakes. Terrapins are often found in brackish, swampy areas. The word terrapin comes from an Indian word meaning "a little turtle.”

Answer 3

Like its aquatic cousins, the turtle and the terrapin, the tortoise is shielded from predators by a shell. The top part of the shell is the carapace, the underside is the plastron, and the two are connected by the bridge. The tortoise has both an endoskeleton and an exoskeleton. Tortoises can vary in size from a few centimetres to two meters. Most land tortoises are herbivorous in the wild.

See more on Wikipedia :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tortoise

Answer 4

thats a horrible way to classify turtles but technically tortoises are terrestrial while turtles are aquatic but some turtles that live on on land are called turtles. However most land turtles are capable swimmers while most "tortoises" are poor swimmers in comparison.
Technically turtles are grouped into 2 main groups; cryptodira and pleurodira
cryptodira pull their heads straight into their shell while pluerodira's pull their head to the side.

I see the same problem with frogs and toads its a dumb way to classify them as there are a number of toads that live in the water and frogs that live in land and the warts thing doesnt hold very well with classification either.

Answer 5

tur·tle1 ( P ) Pronunciation Key (tûrtl)
n.
Any of various aquatic or terrestrial reptiles of the order Testudines (or Chelonia), having horny toothless jaws and a bony or leathery shell into which the head, limbs, and tail can be withdrawn in most species.
Chiefly British. A sea turtle.

tor·toise ( P ) Pronunciation Key (tôrts)
n.

Any of various terrestrial turtles, especially one of the family Testudinidae, characteristically having thick clublike hind limbs and a high, rounded carapace.
Chiefly British. A terrestrial or freshwater chelonian.
One that moves slowly; a laggard.

Answer 6

No you're right. Turtles are the ones with flippers living in the sea, and tortoises don't have flippers and they live on land.

Answer 7

A turtle is a water reptile and a tortise is a land reptile.

Answer 8

turtles mainly live in water they may leave the water but will always return shortly after. and tortoise like i have live on land they tend to hibernate longer and can go longer with out food(based on the size of their fat stores) and tortoise can get much much larger in size and weight than turtles and turtles are more of a "family pet" than the tortoise

Answer 9

turtle have webbed feet and can swim tortoises can't. example of one, the box turtle i believe is a tortoise due to it not having webbed toes, i had one once and put it in water, it immediately sank and refused to come back out, when i picked it up it came out and had a look of fear on it, i let the poor thing go. mind you i was young then and didnt knwo any better.

Answer 10

Size