Book 32, Question 141
Are turtles and tortoises the same thing?
Turtles and tortoises are close cousins.
Tortoises live on land and have high, domed shells and sturdy, round feet. Many turtles spend lots of time in water and have flatter shells and webbed feet or flippers. People sometimes use the words in different ways in different places. Scientists say all tortoises are a kind of turtle.
Watch the videoWatch on YouTubeSee the series on Amazon
Quick answers
Are turtles and tortoises the same thing?
Tortoises are believed to have evolutionarily diverged from turtles around 200 million years ago, and their adaptations evolved to better suit new habitats.
Source: mos.org
More fun facts
- Leatherback sea turtles and softshell turtles have a rounded, flattened carapace, and the entire shell is covered with tough, leathery skin supported by tiny bones.
- Turtles and tortoises do not have ears like ours, but they can feel vibrations and changes in water pressure that tell them where food, or a predator, might be.
- Tortoises that live in hot, dry habitats use their strong forelimbs to dig burrows.
- Turtles and tortoises are a very old group of reptiles, going back about 220 million years.
Sources: San Diego Zoo