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Emydidae (Latin emys (freshwater tortoise) + Ancient Greek εἶδος (eîdos, “appearance, resemblance”)) is a family of testudines (turtles) that includes close to 50 species in 12 extant genera. [3] [4] Members of this family are commonly called terrapins, pond turtles, or marsh turtles. [1]
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.
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 ...
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 ...
Pond turtles, terrapins, and sliders: Red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans) Geoemydidae Theobald, 1868: 24: Asian leaf turtles, roofed turtles, and Asian box turtles: Amboina box turtle (Cuora amboinensis) Kinosternidae Agassiz, 1857: 4: Mud and musk turtles: Common musk turtle (Sternotherus odoratus) Platysternidae Gray, 1869 : 1: Big ...
In Britain, terrapin is used to refer to a larger group of semiaquatic turtles than the restricted meaning in America. [6] [9] Australian usage is different from both American and British usage. [8] Land tortoises are not native to Australia, and traditionally freshwater turtles have been called "tortoises" in Australia. [10]
The diamondback terrapin or simply terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin) is a species of terrapin native to the brackish coastal tidal marshes of the East Coast of the United States and the Gulf of Mexico coast, as well as in Bermuda. [6] It belongs to the monotypic genus Malaclemys.
Turtle carapaces and scutes from Red Sea turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) were used in rings, bracelets, dishes, bowls, knife hilts, amulets, and combs. Carapaces from Kleinmann's tortoise were used as sounding boards for lutes, harps and mandolins. [16] Turtle shells were also used to make norvas, an instrument resembling a banjo. [26]