Terrapin

Terrapins or water tortoises are a group of several species of aquatic reptile of the order Testudines living primarily in fresh or brackish tidal waters, but have the clawed feet of tortoises and not flippers of marine turtles.^[1]^[2] In American English, they are referred to as marsh, pond, or tide-water turtles, with some species called pond sliders as well. Whereas tortoises are almost strict herbivores and fructivores — largely feeding on flowers, grasses, leaves, and fallen fruit — a great many terrapins are mainly carnivorous — largely feeding on amphibians, arthropods, freshwater fish, and molluscs — though some are herbivores. Terrapins are identified primarily with the taxonomic family Emydidae,^[1]^[2] but do not form a single taxon and may not be closely related, with some belonging to the families Geoemydidae, Pelomedusidae, Podocnemididae, and Chelydridae. Though primarily aquatic, terrapins do relatively frequently come to land for many reasons, but particularly to warm up by basking in the sun.

Etymology

The name "terrapin" is derived from the word in the Algonquian languages: torope^[3] that referred to the species Malaclemys terrapin, the diamondback terrapin. It appears that the term became part of common usage during the colonial era of North America and was carried back to Great Britain. Since then, it has been used in common names for freshwater species of Testudines in the English language, but is not as widely used in North America.^[4]

Terrapins gave their name to a colloquialism for the War of 1812 — 'the Terrapin War' — because, through the blockade, the United States was shut up tight in its shell like a terrapin against the British invasionary forces.^[5]

Species

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species — also known as the 'IUCN Red List' or 'Red Data Book' — inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological species,^[6] place most species terrapins as "threatened with extinction" — between vulnerable species and critically endangered.

Terrapin species include:

Family	Genus	Species (subspecies)	common name	Native natural habitat range	IUCN Red List status	Notes
Chelydridae	Chelydra	acutirostris	South American snapping turtle	South America		(W. Peters, 1862)
Chelydridae	Chelydra	rossignonii	Central American snapping turtle Mexican snapping turtle Yucatán snapping turtle	Central America	VU^IUCN	(Bocourt, 1868)
Chelydridae	Chelydra	serpentina	common snapping turtle	southeastern Canada United States eastern US southeastern US	LC^IUCN	(Linnaeus, 1758)
Chelydridae	Macrochelys	temminckii	alligator snapping turtle	United States Florida Panhandle western Illinois southern Indiana southeastern Iowa southeast Kansas western Kentucky Louisiana west Michigan Missouri western Tennessee east Texas	EN^IUCN	a pet in the exotic animal trade that often grows too large and exceeds the abilities for owners to care for and has become an seriously destructive invasive species in many places across central and southern Europe and South Africa
Emydidae	Actinemys	marmorata	western pond turtle	western United States Mexico	VU^IUCN
Emydidae	Clemmys	guttata	spotted turtle	southern Canada Ontario eastern United States the eastern Great Lakes east of the Appalachian Mountains	EN^IUCN
Emydidae	Emys	orbicularis	European pond terrapin	central Europe parts of northern Africa western Asia	NT^IUCN
Emydidae	Glyptemys	muhlenbergii	bog turtle	eastern United States	CR^IUCN
Emydidae	Glyptemys	insculpta	wood turtle	northeastern United States	EN^IUCN
Emydidae	Malaclemys	terrapin	diamondback terrapin	North America Bermuda	VU^IUCN
Emydidae	Trachemys	scripta (elegans)	red-eared slider red-eared terrapin	southern United States northern Mexico		a popular pet and an invasive species in many places
Emydidae	Trachemys	scripta (scripta)	yellow-bellied slider yellow-bellied terrapin	southeastern United States Florida southeastern Virginia		a popular pet and an invasive species in many places
Geoemydidae	Batagur	affinis	southern river terrapin	southeast Asia Cambodia Indonesia Malaysia	CR^IUCN
Geoemydidae	Batagur	baska	northern river terrapin	Cambodia	CR^IUCN
Geoemydidae	Batagur	borneoensis	painted terrapin	southeast Asia Brunei Indonesia Malaysia Thailand	CR^IUCN
Geoemydidae	Batagur	dhongoka	three-striped roofed turtle	south Asia	CR^IUCN
Geoemydidae	Batagur	kachuga	red-crowned roofed turtle	south Asia	CR^IUCN
Geoemydidae	Batagur	trivittata	Burmese roofed turtle	Myanmar	CR^IUCN
Geoemydidae (Bataguridae)	Mauremys	caspica	Caspian turtle striped-neck terrapin	western Asia Caspian Sea Azerbaijan Georgia Iran Türkiye eastern Mediterranean	NA^IUCN
Geoemydidae (Bataguridae)	Mauremys	leprosa	Spanish pond turtle Iberian pond turtle Mediterranean pond turtle	Iberia Portugal Spain northern Africa Morocco Algeria Tunisia	VU^IUCN
Geoemydidae (Bataguridae)	Mauremys	mustica	yellow pond turtle	eastern Asia coastal China: Zhejiang Fujian Guangdong Hainan Vietnam Taiwan	CR^IUCN	inhabits ponds, creeks, swamps, marshes, and other bodies of shallow, slow-moving water omnivorous, feeding on insects, fish, tadpoles, and vegetable matter such as leaves and seeds
Geoemydidae	Mauremys	rivulata	Balkan terrapin western Caspian turtle	The Balkans Croatia Montenegro Albania Greece Bulgaria Türkiye Cyprus	LC^IUCN
Geoemydidae	Melanochelys	trijuga	Indian pond terrapin Indian black turtle	south Asia India
Geoemydidae	Morenia	ocellata	Bengal eyed terrapin Burmese eyed turtle Burmese peacock turtle	Myanmar Yunnan, China
Geoemydidae	Rhinoclemmys	rubida	Mexican spotted terrapin Mexican spotted wood turtle	Mexico
Geoemydidae	Siebenrockiella	crassicollis	black marsh turtle smiling terrapin	southeast Asia	EN^IUCN
Pelomedusidae	Pelusios	castaneus	West African mud turtle swamp terrapin	central Africa western Africa	LC^IUCN
Pelomedusidae	Pelusios	seychellensis	Seychelles mud turtle	The Seychelles	EX^IUCN
Pelomedusidae	Pelusios	sinuatus	serrated hinged terrapin	southern Africa	LC^IUCN
Pelomedusidae	Pelusios	subniger	black-bellied hinged terrapin	central Africa western Africa	LC^IUCN
Platysternidae	Platysternon	megacephalum	big-headed turtle	southeast Asia Cambodia China Laos Myanmar Thailand Vietnam	CR^IUCN
Podocnemididae	Erymnochelys	madagascariensis	Madagascan big-headed turtle	Madagascar	CR^IUCN

References

^ ^a ^b The Chambers Dictionary (12th ed.). Chambers Harrup. 2011. p. 1611. ISBN 978-0-550-10237-9.
^ ^a ^b Collins English Dictionary. Harper Collins. 1991. p. 1592. ISBN 0-00-433286-5.
^ "Terrapin" www.merriam-webster.com, accessed 9 November 2021
^ Farlex Trivia Dictionary 2012 - cited in https://www.thefreedictionary.com/Testudine
^ Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase & Fable. Cassell & Co. 1999. p. 1164. ISBN 978-0-304-35096-4.
^ "Background & History". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved 19 May 2021.

This page is an index of articles on animal species (or higher taxonomic groups) with the same common name (vernacular name). If an internal link led you here, you may wish to edit the linking article so that it links directly to the intended article.

[Chambers-1] The Chambers Dictionary (12th ed.). Chambers Harrup. 2011. p. 1611. ISBN 978-0-550-10237-9.

[Collins-2] Collins English Dictionary. Harper Collins. 1991. p. 1592. ISBN 0-00-433286-5.

[MW-3] "Terrapin" www.merriam-webster.com, accessed 9 November 2021

[4] Farlex Trivia Dictionary 2012 - cited in https://www.thefreedictionary.com/Testudine

[5] Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase & Fable. Cassell & Co. 1999. p. 1164. ISBN 978-0-304-35096-4.

[6] "Background & History". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved 19 May 2021.

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Terrapin

Etymology

Species

See also

References