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The word turtle is borrowed from the French word tortue or tortre 'turtle, tortoise'. [3] It is a common name and may be used without knowledge of taxonomic distinctions. In North America, it may denote the order as a whole. In Britain, the name is used for sea turtles as opposed to freshwater terrapins and land-dwelling tortoises. In Australia ...
In the UK, tortoises are land-dwellers, while turtles and terrapins are aquatic (terrapins are slightly fonder of the land than turtles). But in the US, turtle covers all three.
Tortoises: Aldabra giant tortoise (Geochelone gigantea) Trionychidae Fitzinger, 1826: 14: Softshell turtles: Spiny softshell turtle (Apalone spinifera) Pleurodira – 3 families, 16 genera, over 60 species Family Genera Common names Example species Example image Chelidae Gray, 1831 : 15: Austro-American sideneck turtles: Common snakeneck turtle ...
Three-toed box turtles are omnivores, their diets varying with availability of food sources and the seasons. They are known to eat earthworms, insects, snails, slugs, strawberries, mushrooms, and green-leafed vegetation. They have been observed eating the eggs of quail. All box turtles will prefer live foods to vegetation.
A 3-year study conducted in Texas indicated that more than 7000 box turtles were taken from the wild for commercial trade. A similar study in Louisiana found that over a 41-month period, about 30,000 box turtles were taken from the wild for resale. Once captured, the turtles are often kept in poor conditions, in which more than half die.
Emydidae (Latin emys (freshwater tortoise) + Ancient Greek εἶδος (eîdos, “appearance, resemblance”)) is a family of testudines (turtles) that includes close to 50 species in 10 genera. [3] [4] Members of this family are commonly called terrapins, pond turtles, or marsh turtles. [1]
Terrapins do not form a taxonomic unit and may not be closely related. Many belong to the families Geoemydidae and Emydidae. The name "terrapin" is derived from torope, a word in an Algonquian language [1] that referred to the species Malaclemys terrapin (the Diamondback terrapin). It appears that the term became part of common usage during the ...
A 3-year study in Texas indicated that over 7,000 box turtles were taken from the wild for commercial trade. A similar study in Louisiana found that in a 41-month period, nearly 30,000 box turtles were taken from the wild for resale, many for export to Europe. Once captured, turtles are often kept in poor conditions where up to half of them die.