![]() ![]() We actually got to see the educational wood turtle. I remember years ago when I was working at an environmental summer camp. And then they get eaten by the wood turtle.ĮRIC: That's so cool. ![]() So they come up to the surface so they don't drown. So they sort of do a little dance on the ground, and that makes the worms underneath the dirt think that it's raining. Wood turtles, side note, are really cool because they dance for their dinner. Those box turtles that I mentioned, as well as wood turtles, which are another local New England if you're listening here in New England or local here. We have several different types of turtles. KAREN: So we have a handful of different species. Because if it seems like it mostly lives on the land, it might be a tortoise.ĮRIC: What kind of turtles and tortoises do we have at the museum? Which ones do you work with? It kind of covers the whole overarching group.ĮRIC: So basically, if you see a turtle and you want to know if it's a tortoise, look to see if it has that domed shell, look to see if that has those feet like an elephant, and look where it is. But if you do see one of those out there in the wild, again, call it a turtle. But they're called box turtles, not tortoises. It has a high domed shell, it actually closes up like a box. Actually, pretty much down the whole East Coast of the United States. ![]() KAREN: Yeah, we have a species that lives at the museum called a box turtle. Every time we try to categorize anything, there's always something that doesn't fit. As always, there are exceptions.ĮRIC: Always exceptions to every nice, simple rule. But those are kind of the easiest ways to tell the difference. So even if they're in an area like desert that doesn't get a lot of water, they can store it up inside of their bodies. Tortoise on the other hand, living in drier environments, has that high domed shell and that helps them store up extra water. Helps them get up that speed when they're swimming. Really great for going through the water in the ocean. So if you can picture like a sea turtle in your head, they have pretty flat, streamlined shells. Another distinguishing characteristic that might make it a tortoise is usually they have higher domed shells. So they use those flat claws and those clunky feet to get over ground. Pretty flat claws or flat nails, they're not very sharp and pointy, because they often spend a lot of time digging. If you can picture what the foot of an elephant looks like, and just kind of shrink that down and stick it on a tortoise. because of that, have some features about their body can help you identify it. You find them walking around on the ground. And some of those are: they tend to be mostly terrestrial, meaning tortoises tolerate dryer temperatures, you don't find them living in ponds, and rivers and oceans. And there are some things that you can look for that make tortoises just a little bit different than turtles, hence why they're a subgroup. If you wanted to be a little bit more specific, you could call it a tortoise. So if you were looking at something that you thought: is it a turtle is it a tortoise? You could call it a turtle and be correct. And for the non-biologists listening in today, all squares are rectangles. Along the same lines is all toads are frogs, but not all frogs are toads. All tortoises are turtles, but not all turtles are tortoises. Are they the same, are they different? And I'm going to start by saying something that might sound confusing. KAREN: That's a question we get asked a lot, whether it's in some of our livestreams we've been doing over the past year, whether it's at the museum, or even when we're out visiting schools with our live animal collection, people always want to know what is the difference between a turtle and a tortoise. What is the difference between a turtle and a tortoise? KAREN: Hey Eric, I'm so happy to be here again.ĮRIC: So it's one of those questions you hear a lot. Karen, thanks for coming back on the podcast. ![]() So I thought she would be perfect to answer all of your turtle and tortoise questions. Often at the museum, when you see a tortoise, you also see Karen, one of our educators, teaching crowds about its adaptations while it moves slowly across the stage. But what's the difference? Today on Pulsar we'll explore that question as well as other popular queries that we get about our shelled residents. ERIC: Turtles are some of the most amazing animals in the world. ![]()
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