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, and having the clawed feet of tortoises rather than the flippers of marine turtles. 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 frugivores — 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, 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 "Terrapin" www.merriam-webster.com, accessed 9 November 2021 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.Farlex Trivia Dictionary 2012 - cited in https://www.thefreedictionary.com/Testudine

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 forces.

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, place most species terrapins as "threatened with extinction" — between vulnerable species and critically endangered.

Terrapin species include:

FamilyGenusSpecies (subspecies)common name Native natural habitat rangeIUCN Red List statusCurrent population trendNotesChelydridaeChelydraacutirostrisSouth American snapping turtleSouth America(W. Peters, 1862)ChelydridaeChelydrarossignoniiCentral American snapping turtle Mexican snapping turtle Yucatán snapping turtleCentral America(Bocourt, 1868)ChelydridaeChelydraserpentinacommon snapping turtlesoutheastern Canada United States eastern US southeastern US(Linnaeus, 1758)ChelydridaeMacrochelystemminckiialligator snapping turtle United States Florida Panhandle western Illinois southern Indiana southeastern Iowa southeast Kansas western Kentucky Louisiana west Michigan Missouri western Tennessee east Texasa 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 AfricaEmydidaeActinemysmarmoratawestern pond turtlewestern United States MexicoEmydidaeClemmysguttataspotted turtlesouthern Canada Ontario eastern United States the eastern Great Lakes east of the Appalachian MountainsEmydidaeEmydoidea blandingiiBlanding's turtleNorth American Great Lakes parts of the US Great Plains New England coastal landsdecreasingEmydidaeEmysorbicularisEuropean pond terrapincentral Europe parts of northern Africa western AsiaEmydidaeGlyptemysmuhlenbergiibog turtleeastern United StatesEmydidaeGlyptemysinsculptawood turtlenortheastern United StatesEmydidaeMalaclemysterrapindiamondback terrapinNorth America BermudaEmydidaeTrachemysscripta (elegans)red-eared slider red-eared terrapinsouthern United States northern Mexicoa popular pet and an invasive species in many placesEmydidaeTrachemysscripta (scripta)yellow-bellied slider yellow-bellied terrapinsoutheastern United States Florida southeastern Virginiaa popular pet and an invasive species in many placesGeoemydidaeBataguraffinissouthern river terrapinsoutheast Asia Cambodia Indonesia MalaysiaGeoemydidaeBatagurbaskanorthern river terrapinCambodiaGeoemydidaeBatagurborneoensispainted terrapinsoutheast Asia Brunei Indonesia Malaysia ThailandGeoemydidaeBatagurdhongokathree-striped roofed turtlesouth AsiaGeoemydidaeBatagurkachugared-crowned roofed turtlesouth AsiaGeoemydidaeBatagurtrivittataBurmese roofed turtle MyanmarGeoemydidae (Bataguridae)MauremyscaspicaCaspian turtle striped-neck terrapinwestern Asia Caspian Sea Azerbaijan Georgia Iran Turkey eastern MediterraneanGeoemydidae (Bataguridae)MauremysleprosaSpanish pond turtle Iberian pond turtle Mediterranean pond turtleIberia Portugal Spain northern Africa Morocco Algeria TunisiaGeoemydidae (Bataguridae)Mauremysmusticayellow pond turtle eastern Asia coastal China: Zhejiang Fujian Guangdong Hainan Vietnam Taiwandecreasinginhabits 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 seedsGeoemydidaeMauremysrivulataBalkan terrapin western Caspian turtleThe Balkans Croatia Montenegro Albania Greece Bulgaria Turkey CyprusGeoemydidaeMelanochelystrijugaIndian pond terrapin Indian black turtlesouth Asia IndiaGeoemydidaeMoreniaocellataBengal eyed terrapin Burmese eyed turtle Burmese peacock turtleMyanmar Yunnan, ChinaGeoemydidaeRhinoclemmysrubidaMexican spotted terrapin Mexican spotted wood turtleMexicoGeoemydidaeSiebenrockiellacrassicollisblack marsh turtle smiling terrapinsoutheast AsiaPelomedusidaePelusioscastaneusWest African mud turtle swamp terrapincentral Africa western AfricaPelomedusidaePelusiosseychellensisSeychelles mud turtleThe SeychellesPelomedusidaePelusiossinuatusserrated hinged terrapinsouthern AfricaPelomedusidaePelusiossubnigerblack-bellied hinged terrapincentral Africa western AfricaPlatysternidaePlatysternonmegacephalumbig-headed turtle southeast Asia Cambodia China Laos Myanmar Thailand VietnamPodocnemididaeErymnochelysmadagascariensisMadagascan big-headed turtle Madagascar

Conventions

Conservation status codes listed follow the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. Range maps are provided wherever possible; if a range map is not available, a description of the range is provided. Ranges are based on the IUCN Red List for that species unless otherwise noted. All extinct species or subspecies listed alongside extant species went extinct after 1500 CE, and are indicated by a dagger symbol "".

Terrapin

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