Weird. I saw a run-over turtle this weekend in a parking lot down in Durham, NC. And those things walk so slowly there's no way it could have been the same one.

the university of maryland mascot is a "fighting terrapin"- it looks like a really angry tortoise.

Thanks, too shy, Justin, and Mrs. Meadows!

According to the Tortoise Trust, there's really no difference. In general, in the United States, we call it a turtle if it lives in water and has webbed feet and a tortoise if it lives on land and has stumpy feet.

turtles live in water some of the time or all of the time (fresh or salt water). then there are the terrapins, who live in swampy water. tortoises live only on land. never in water. special thanks to mrs. meadows, who saw fit to provide us with shelby, our 4th grade class turtle.

Justin? This is yours to tackle.

oh no! i just saw this great special on nova about the seychelles islands of the east coast of africa- apparently that's where the largest colony of tortoises in the world lives. five times as many as in the galapogos islands. is a turtle the same thing as a tortoise?