Types of Turtles and Tortoises
Turtles and tortoises carry their homes on their backs. Their shell is part of their body — it is made of bone and they can never leave it. Tortoises live on land and have stumpy, strong legs, while turtles spend much of their lives in water and have flippers or webbed feet.
🔎 How to spot a turtles & tortoise
A shell is the big clue! Flat, webbed feet usually mean a water turtle; thick, column-like legs usually mean a tortoise.
22 Turtles and Tortoises to discover
Alligator Snapping TurtleMacrochelys temminckiiMedium
Common Snapping TurtleChelydra serpentinaMedium
Diamondback TerrapinMalaclemys terrapinChallenge
Eastern Box TurtleTerrapene carolinaMedium
Galápagos TortoiseChelonoidis nigerMedium
Gopher TortoiseGopherus polyphemusMedium
Green Sea TurtleChelonia mydasBeginner
Hawksbill Sea TurtleEretmochelys imbricataChallenge
Hermann's TortoiseTestudo hermanniMedium
Leatherback Sea TurtleDermochelys coriaceaChallenge
Leopard TortoiseStigmochelys pardalisExpert
Loggerhead Sea TurtleCaretta carettaMedium
Mata MataChelus fimbriataExpert
Olive Ridley Sea TurtleLepidochelys olivaceaExpert
Painted TurtleChrysemys pictaBeginner
Pancake TortoiseMalacochersus tornieriExpert
Radiated TortoiseAstrochelys radiataChallenge
Red-Eared SliderTrachemys scripta elegansBeginner
Red-Footed TortoiseChelonoidis carbonariusMedium
Russian TortoiseTestudo horsfieldiiChallenge
Spiny Softshell TurtleApalone spiniferaChallenge
Sulcata TortoiseCentrochelys sulcataMedium