Gothamist: Turtle in Central Park

Brian

Thu, 26 Jun 2003 13:59:52 -0500

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.

jake

Thu, 26 Jun 2003 13:53:06 -0500

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

Jen

Thu, 26 Jun 2003 12:38:13 -0500

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

Justin Case, Science Correspondant

Thu, 26 Jun 2003 12:35:29 -0500

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.

too shy

Thu, 26 Jun 2003 12:32:13 -0500

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.

Jen

Thu, 26 Jun 2003 12:15:11 -0500

Justin? This is yours to tackle.

jake

Thu, 26 Jun 2003 12:09:33 -0500

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?