Differentiate the turtle and the tortoise.?

Answer 1

Turtles are reptiles that live mainly in the water and tortoises live mainly on the land.

Answer 2

All the above answers are fine except they miss the key point : anatomy.

A tortoise has locked forelegs. Their knees are kept in such a way as to be able to lift their weight off the ground. This results in the bow-legged shape of the forelegs.

Turtles, being aquatic, are supported by the water and their forelegs or flippers aren't locked in this fashion. Their forelegs are more mobile at the knees and can be used to push water more effectively and thus be able to swim better.

And yes their are some turtles that overlap tortoise-like forelegs and vice versa but this anatomical description is common place for turtles and tortoises.

Answer 3

Turtle: a generic term for all chelonians (the fancy name for the turtles as a group.) The term is also used to describe the aquatic turtles.

Tortoise: Technically, members of the family Testudinidea. They live, eat, and mate on land (while most turtles generally eat and mate in water). They always have elephant-like front feet (club-shaped) instead of the toes most turtles have in front. They usually have thick, high-domed shells.

Another group term is 'terrapin', which does not have a specific scientific definition.

Now, if we break the turtles apart by lifestyle, we have:

Marine or sea turtles, like the Hawksbill, Green, or Ridley. Usually called sea or marine turtles.

Aquatic turtles that rarely come on the land- Softshelled turtles, Snapping turtles, etc. Most people just call these 'turtles'.

Semi-aquatic turtles, like the sliders or Painted turtles. These guys spend at least part of their day basking on some form of dry land. In the US, they are usually called 'turtles' or 'pond turtles'. In Europe, they are 'terrapins'.

Land turtles, mostly the true tortoises, but can include some box turtles, etc. In most places, these are called tortoises.

In the US, ther term 'terrapin' is rarely used, and usually only for the Diamondback terrapin- a brackish water species form the East coast. it is also used regionally for turtles used in soups and stews.

Answer 4

A 'Turtle' can really be seperated into 3 groups.

Turtle - saltwater
Terrapin - freshwater
Tortoise - land

Keep in mind though, that turtles and terrapins sit on rocks to bask, and can sometimes enjoy walking on land. Tortoises usually come from dry regions, but they like to walk through shallow water sometimes.

Answer 5

Turtles either live in the water full-time or live in water most of the time. Tortoise's are strickly land animals. The have much differant body shapes too. Turtles have webbed feet to aid with swimming while tortoises have longer claws to help grab at the ground while walking. Tortoise's tend to be much larger as well, sometimes up to 110lbs and most of them are usually an ugly brown color. Turtle's can be black with bright yellow or red markings. They tend to have more variety.


terrapins are either saltwater or freshwater turtles.
turtles are strickly fresh water

Answer 6

tortoise - land dwelling
turtle - sea dwelling
terrapin - fresh water
but everybody calls anything with a shell a turtle

Answer 7

turtles mainly live in the water, have more webbed feet for aquatic life, shell is usually flatter on top.
tortoises are made for a life on land and not in the water, make burroughs and holes to live in, usually have a more rounded shell shape