Tortoises can be huge too, with some on Galapagos tipping scales at over kg , stretching a little over a meter.
Overall, this means that turtles can grow bigger than tortoises. Of course, this is subspecies-dependent. Turtles and tortoise shells are really special. The top is the carapace , and the bottom is a plastron. The shell is like a living bone. So a crack or puncture can lead to infection, severe injury and even death. As mentioned, these animals can feel through their shells. So the best advice is to avoid handling them altogether.
Tortoises are mostly herbivores. That is to say, they generally eat plants based on where they live. This may be cactus in dry regions or moist shrubs in wetlands. Turtles are primarily omnivores.
Aquatic turtles eat crustacea, algae, sea sponges and other small invertebrate sea life. However, it might surprise you to read that turtles hold the title over tortoises in the dash — even on land! A study concluded that a Gopher tortoise registered a top speed of 0.
Meanwhile a Pseudemys floridana turtle blew by at 0. In water, there is no comparison. Tortoises can barely swim. In fact, only a leopard tortoise swims regularly and voluntarily. Interesting fact: Leopard tortoises can also hold their breath and submerge for up to ten seconds.
The long lives of tortoises are well known to pop culture. On average, healthy tortoises can live 80 to years. A tortoise in India named Adwaita allegedly lived to the age of years. Some experts even suggest that there may be tortoises in the wild older than years. Seat turtles seem to have a considerably shorter lifespan in general. Tortoises have more rounded and domed shells where turtles have thinner, more water-dynamic shells.
Turtle shells are more streamlined to aid in swimming. One major key difference is that tortoises spend most of their time on land and turtles are adapted for life spent in water. Tortoises have club-like forelegs and 'elephantine' hind legs. Because tortoise are often larger and heavier, their elephantine hind legs help them move around and carry the extra weight! Turtles will have more flipper like legs, or webbed feet to make it easier to cruise through the water.
How cold is too cold? Related article: Can tortoises and turtles lay eggs without mating? These have evolved to allow them to move faster on land, they still do have shells. Related article: Tortoise anatomy: What tortoises are made of and why. Related article: So what makes tortoises reptiles? This ensured that it lived on in the English language. Thus, for the purposes of discussing differences between terrapins, turtles and tortoises — when we make a distinction between turtles and tortoises — this difference is also the same as the difference between terrapins and tortoises.
Related article: Can tortoises drink milk? There are tortoises from Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas — though none from Australia and none from Antarctica which would be too cold to support reptilian life of any kind.
Semi-aquatic turtles, however, like the box turtle we just mentioned — spend some of their time on land and some of it in the water. Turtles are more common in North America than tortoises and they can also be from Africa, Asia and Europe. They do this in the same manner as tortoises, they dig a burrow and hide out there during the Winter months where they can stay warm.
Tortoises are plant eaters. In the wild, they eat the plants that surround them carefully avoiding anything that is toxic and this can be quite varied. Related article: How to feed a tortoise: The tortoise diet guide. A desert tortoise might be found snacking on a lovely cactus whereas a forest tortoise might chow down on a banquet of berries. Related article: Is your tortoise a picky eater? Their keratin is constantly growing without shedding, pushing up old growth to give the shell a layered look.
Turtle tortoise? Tortoises have feet that are padded and stumpy, with horned, scaly toes, looking a little like tiny elephant feet. Their chunky elephantine legs help tortoises to carry their weight around on land.
Turtle feet are very different, being either webbed with long claws to help them latch onto floating objects and climb in and out of water, or in the case of aquatic turtles, there are true flippers rather than feet. Turtles on the other hand — with their sleek body and shell shapes, and webbed feet or flippers — are built for aquatic life, and are excellent swimmers. Turtles and tortoises are found primarily in tropical and semi-tropical climates as they all require warm external temperatures.
Both turtles and tortoises are very adaptive animals, with turtles found on every continent except Antarctica, and tortoises found everywhere except Antarctica and Australasia. The biggest variety of turtles are found in Southeastern North America and Asia, whilst the most diverse number of tortoise species can be found in Africa.
Both tortoises and turtles need plenty of nutrients and minerals to promote healthy shell growth, but have evolved to have different diets. Tortoises are primarily herbivores, with their diet varying depending on specific species and age. They tend to have a wide diet, slowly covering large distances, grazing on leaves, weeds, grasses, fruit, and vegetables as they come across them.
Turtles are omnivores, eating a similar variety of plants to tortoises, and supplementing this with protein sources ranging from worms and insects to jellyfish and small fish. A sea turtle left devours a jellyfish, whilst a tortoise chews a lettuce leaf.
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