Introduction to Turtles (Sea Turtles, Terrapins and Tortoises)

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For a long time, I didn't know that turtle is a general term given to sea turtles (penyu), terrapins (tuntung) and tortoises (kura-kura). The main difference of these turtles are that sea turtles are salt water creatures, terrapins are freshwater creatures and tortoises live on land.

I can't believe it but when I was a kid, I probably owned a terrapin.... you know small "tortoises" that you purchase from the pet stores.... well I guess even the pet stores don't know how to differentiate them back then... I am wondering whether do they still label them terrapins as tortoises these days?

If you would like to read more about the these turtles, there is a very good article with great details about them at Wikipedia. Link to wiki here.

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References:

• www.turtleconservationcentre.org/resources/educational-posters
• wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtle

[Images have been taken and used with permissions from Turtle Conservation Centre (TCC)]