Turtle vs Tortoise – What’s the Difference? (With Pictures)

A lot of people seem to use the terms turtle and tortoise, interchangeably. But that is not always right. While it’s true that every tortoise is a turtle, not every turtle is a tortoise. So in order to make things clear, I decided to make this article in which I am going to point out the differences and similarities between turtles and tortoises.

What’s the difference between a turtle and a tortoise? Turtles and tortoises are very similar in appearance, but there are a lot of differences between them. Here is a quick list of things that make them different:

• The habitat in which they live
• The shape
• Their feet
• Lifespan
• Diet

Those are the main things that differentiate a turtle from a tortoise. Now I am going to go into a little more detail about each one of them,  and I will also point out some of the similarities between them. And at the end of the article, I am going to make a short table that will quickly recap everything that we will discuss in this article. But let’s start with the differences.

Turtle vs Tortoise: Habitat

The habitat in which they live is one of the biggest differences, and one of the key things that you have to take into consideration when you try to find out if it’s a turtle or a tortoise.

Turtles are aquatic, which means that they spend most of their life in water. While tortoises are terrestrial, which means that they spend most of their life on the ground.

In general, neither turtles nor tortoises will leave their natural habitat, with the exception of a few rare instances, for example. Turtles will usually leave their habitat when they have to lay eggs. Even if they basically live in water, their eggs are unable to develop if they are covered in water, so when the time comes to lay eggs a turtle will look for a dry and safe place to lay them. 

Another instance when you can find a turtle out of water is when it’s looking for a place to hibernate, or when it’s already hibernating. In general, turtles like to hibernate underwater, but sometimes due to circumstances they might not be able to, so they will look for a safe place to hibernate elsewhere. If you want to know why a turtle might not be able to hibernate in a lake, or how they breathe through their buts for 3 to 6 months while hibernating, or anything about hibernation in general, you should read my article: Do Turtles Hibernate? (with Videos).

On the other hand, tortoises won’t get too close to water, the only exceptions are when they are thirsty and want to drink some, and when the weather is very warm and they want to cool off. In extremely rare situations you will see a tortoise in deep water, and when it happens it usually happens due to a mistake. This is because tortoises are not the best swimmers, but we will talk about swimming at another point in this list. Now we will move to the next difference, distribution.

Turtle vs Tortoise: Distribution

Turtles and tortoises are very different at a fundamental level, their habitat. So this will drastically affect the way they are distributed across the world.

Turtles are typically found in more tropical and semi-tropical areas of the world like South America, some parts of North America, and certain parts of Africa.

Tortoises on the other hand can be primarily found in Asia and some parts of Africa.

Overall the world is full of turtles and tortoises, the only place where you can’t find any is Antarctica. But as you can see some areas are friendlier to turtles than to tortoises, and some areas are better suited for tortoises than turtles.

Now let’s move to the next difference, the shape.

Turtle vs Tortoise: Shape

At first, you can easily say that there is no difference in shape, but upon a closer look, you can notice that a turtle shell is considerably flatter than the tortoiseshell, which has a dome-like shape.

While there are small differences in shell shape from turtle species to turtle species, there is no turtle with a shell as round as that of a tortoise.

The reason for this difference in shape is also due to the habitat where they live.

The flatter shape of a turtle is more hydrodynamic, thus allowing them to swim faster while they are in or underwater. While the dome-like shape of the tortoiseshell is a lot better suited for defense from terrestrial and aerial predators, due to the fact that it doesn’t allow them to catch the tortoises with their claws, or jaws.

But besides the difference in shape, there is no other notable difference to speak of, when it comes to the shell. They are all made out of the same fused bones, they are all covered with the same layer of keratin. But if you want to know more about turtles and tortoises shells, or you want to see how a shell looks on the inside when a turtle is not there, you can always check out my article: What Are Turtle Shells Made Of ? (with Pictures and Video). Now let’s move to the next item on the list, weight.

Turtle vs Tortoise: Weight

This one is a little strange, but that’s how it is. Tortoises are heavier than turtles. The reason why this is the case is not exactly clearer, my opinion is that happens due to the difference in shell shape, but at the moment there is no clear scientific answer.

To simply put things, if you take one turtle and one tortoise that are both the same size, the tortoise will always be heavier than a turtle.

With this strange little difference covered, we can move to the next one, which is quite major.

Turtle vs Tortoise: Feet

The feet of a turtle and the feet of a tortoise are very different.

Turtle feet have long claws and webbing between the toes. While tortoise feet are a lot stubbier, they are quite similar to elephant feet in shape.

This difference in shape is also due to the habitat in which they live. Turtle feet are great for swimming, in fact, they are so great at swimming that we ended up modeling our scuba diving find after them.

On the other hand, tortoise feet are terrible at swimming, but they are great at traversing rough terrain and digging.

Turtle vs Tortoise: Lifespan

The lifespan of a turtle and the lifespan of a tortoise are quite different. Most turtles usually live between 30 and 40 years, and in very rare cases turtles can reach 50+ years.

However, tortoises usually live between 60 and 80 years. And in some rare cases, some tortoises can reach 150+ years.

The thing about turtle’s and tortoise’s lifespan, is that nobody knows its exact limit. This is because the methods used to determine the age are not entirely 100% exact and because it can take a lot of time to find out how long an animal can live, especially if they are able to live longer than us.

Another thing to take into consideration is that the amount of time I mentioned earlier is more or less an accepted average by the entire community. This doesn’t mean that they are not true, but there are a lot of factors that can influence how long a turtle can live. For example, wild turtles don’t live too long due to the constant threat of predators, among other things. But when it comes to pet turtles and tortoises, the important thing is how good their owner takes care of them.

Those are just a few of the factors that can influence a turtle’s or tortoise’s lifespan. If you want to know more about them, or you simply want to know what you should do to make sure that your turtle or tortoise will live a long and happy life, you should check out my article: How Long do Turtles Live?

Turtle vs Tortoise: Diet

Another difference between turtles and tortoises is what they eat. Most turtles are omnivorous, which means that they will eat almost anything, fish, meat, insects, plants, fruits, vegetables, everything that is comestible they will eat. While most tortoises are herbivorous, which means that their diet mainly consists of plants, fruits, and vegetables.

Even if most turtles are omnivorous, you can still expect to find a few that are herbivorous, just like tortoises are or even some that are the exact opposite, meaning that they will be carnivorous. The same principle can apply to tortoises, there still exist species that are omnivorous, even if the vast majority are herbivorous.

Turtle vs Tortoise: Reproduction

When it comes to reproduction, turtles and tortoises are very similar. Both of them lay eggs in nests, and after they lay the eggs, they both leave them and return to their normal routine. The number of eggs can differ from species to species, there is no correlation if they were laid by a turtle or a tortoise. And most eggs will hatch after 80 to 120 days.

As I said, there is basically no difference between turtles and tortoises. With this part being covered, let’s move to the next one.

Turtle vs Tortoise: Class, Order, and Family

At the beginning of the article, I mentioned that calling tortoises a turtle is not wrong, but calling a turtle a tortoise can be wrong. This is the part of the article where I explain that statement.

Every animal on this planet is classified into some categories. Some of them are more general, like the class, which contains big groups like mammals and reptiles, then there is the order who gets a little more specific like dogs, or cats. And then comes family which is more specific, and then species. To make things clearer, here is a photo that shows how classification works:

Both turtles and tortoises belong to the class “Reptilia”, which means that they are reptiles. And both of them belong to the order known as Testudines, also known as Chelonii, or more commonly referred to as Turtles. So all of them are turtles. Now we come to Family, all tortoises are in the Testudinidae family, also known as Tortoises.

The rest of the turtles also have a genus, but their names usually contain the name turtle in them, for example, Central American river turtles, or Pond turtles, so they are more commonly referred to as turtles, instead of using the full-length name.

This is why calling a tortoise a turtle is correct, but calling a turtle a tortoise might not always be correct.

Now that we covered every general difference, let’s talk a little about what the difference is between them as pets.

Turtle vs Tortoise: As Pets

Both turtles and tortoises are very similar to pets. Both of them have similar needs like food and a clean environment. The major difference is their habitat.

Turtles will need a tank that is filled with water, while tortoises will need a tank or another type of enclosure that is filled with a substrate.

I own both turtles and tortoises as pets, from my personal experience I can tell you that tortoises are somewhat easier to maintain since you don’t need to change the water. But other than that there is no major difference.

One other thing to take into consideration is the fact that tortoises will live considerably longer, and as a result, will end up being a lot bigger than a turtle. So at some point, you might not have enough space to keep one inside the house.

From my personal experience, both of them make great pets, and overall the differences between them as pets are not that big.

If you are interested in getting a pet turtle or tortoise then you should check out our Care Guide Section where you will find hundreds of articles that will teach you everything about what you need to know and do to properly take care of your pet.

Now let’s make a quick summary of everything that we discussed in this article.

Turtle vs Tortoise: Summary

Related Questions

Can turtles recognize their owners? Turtles can recognize you and they will understand that you play an important part in their lives, but they will not feel any familiarity towards you like dogs or cats would. Overall turtles recognize their owners but not in a way you would expect. You can always read more about this in my article: Can Turtles Recognize Their Owners?

Do turtles like music? Yes, turtles actually love listening to music, but what kind of music you play for them can make a real difference. If you want to know what kind of music turtles like you should check out this article: Do Turtles like Music?

Are sea turtles fish or reptiles? Sea turtles are reptiles like all turtles are. Even if they spend almost all of their time underwater and far from the shore, they are still reptiles, they just prefer to stay in the water instead of land. They also need to get to the surface of the water to get air on numerous occasions.

Hello,

If you enjoy the content that we create, please consider saying a "Thank You!" by leaving a tip.

Every little bit can help us tremendously in continuing to create quality content that helps turtle and tortoise owners around the world.

We really appreciate the kindness and support that you show us!