# The difference between a tortoise and a turtle **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 5, 2015, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-a-tortoise-and-a-turtle/739513 "2015-12-05T14:45:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2015, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-a-tortoise-and-a-turtle/739513/1 "2015-12-05T14:45:33Z")
No, “helping” land tortoises to the ocean is not a good idea: > **[Floridians Won't Stop Drowning Tortoises They're Trying to "Set Free"](https://www.gawker.com/floridians-wont-stop-drowning-tortoises-theyre-trying-t-1696218367)** > > Gopher tortoises, who enjoy being on land where they're able to maintain such basic functions as breathing and not dying, cannot swim. Which is why Florida would like to ask its residents to stop "helping" the tortoises find their way to the ocean's... ---
**Author:** ![CT\_Damsel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CT\_Damsel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CT_Damsel)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2015, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-a-tortoise-and-a-turtle/739513/2 "2015-12-05T14:55:21Z")
I have no idea; but since this is in MPSIMS my guess is a turtle is to a tortoise what a frog is to a toad. Now here come the smart people:D ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2015, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-a-tortoise-and-a-turtle/739513/3 "2015-12-05T15:04:28Z")
> [@](#): > > ‘When we were little,’ the Mock Turtle went on at last, more calmly, though still sobbing a little now and then, 'we went to school in the sea. The master was an old Turtle — we used to call him Tortoise — ’ > ‘Why did you call him Tortoise, if he wasn’t one?’ Alice asked. > ‘We called him Tortoise because he taught us,’ said the Mock Turtle angrily: ‘really you are very dull!’ -Lewis Carroll ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2015, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-a-tortoise-and-a-turtle/739513/4 "2015-12-05T16:13:11Z")
Tortoises are reptiles. Turtles are birds. (Etymologically). ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2015, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-a-tortoise-and-a-turtle/739513/5 "2015-12-05T19:17:23Z")
I didn’t know that. What a wonderful world! > **[Turtles Share Evolutionary Origins With Birds, Crocodiles, Study Finds](https://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/1640/20130429/turtles-share-evolutionary-origins-birds-crocodiles-study-finds.htm)** > > Turtles do not belong to a primitive group of reptiles, but to a sister group of birds, crocodiles and extinct dinosaurs, according to the International Turtle Genome Consortium's recently released report. My niece has a tortoise and he’s pretty neat. He likes to sit in her lap, presumably because she’s warm. He’s a more satisfying pet than I expected him to be. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2015, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-a-tortoise-and-a-turtle/739513/6 "2015-12-05T19:27:52Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Tortoises are reptiles. Turtles are birds. (Etymologically). Um, no. Turtles are still reptiles. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2015, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-a-tortoise-and-a-turtle/739513/7 "2015-12-05T19:48:24Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Um, no. Turtles are still reptiles. He said “etymologically,” but that’s debatable. “Turtle” originally appears in English in c1300 to mean “turtledove.” The reptile name comes from a different source, the French _tortue_, and appears in c1600, but may have been influenced by the original “turtle.” ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2015, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-a-tortoise-and-a-turtle/739513/8 "2015-12-05T20:36:43Z")
I tortoise will normally have a higher domed shell and feet that are not webbed for swimming. Water turtles will often have legs more like flippers. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2015, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-a-tortoise-and-a-turtle/739513/9 "2015-12-05T21:09:23Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Um, no. Turtles are still reptiles. Now that the actual joke has been addressed… Birds are actually reptiles, too. (Archosaurs\* - their closest living relatives are crocodilians. It’s not 100% where turtles and tortoises fit, but they’re _probably_ more closely related to archosaurs than to other reptiles, but also probably not actual archosaurs.) - Dinosaurs (including birds), crocodilians, and pterosaurs. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2015, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-a-tortoise-and-a-turtle/739513/10 "2015-12-05T22:37:15Z")
Then we start adding terrapins to the confusion. And why not. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2015, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-a-tortoise-and-a-turtle/739513/11 "2015-12-06T02:38:20Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > No, “helping” land tortoises to the ocean is not a good idea: > [http://gawker.com/floridians-wont-stop-drowning-tortoises-theyre-trying-t-1696218367#\_ga=1.129206988.1101205779.1420843116](http://gawker.com/floridians-wont-stop-drowning-tortoises-theyre-trying-t-1696218367#_ga=1.129206988.1101205779.1420843116) Surely such tortuous torturing of a tortoise is tortious. ---
**Author:** ![Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cabin_fever_1/32/2908_2.png) [@Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabin_Fever_1)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2015, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-a-tortoise-and-a-turtle/739513/12 "2015-12-06T03:58:09Z")
Dang [spell-check](http://minimalistbaker.com/chipotle-black-bean-tortilla-soup/) failed again! ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2015, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-a-tortoise-and-a-turtle/739513/13 "2015-12-06T20:52:18Z")
The ultimate authority: [QUOTE=Ogden Nash] _Come crown my brow with leaves of myrtle I know the tortoise is a turtle. Come carve my name in stone immortal, I know the turtoise is a tortle. I know to my profound despair I bet on one to beat a hare. I also know I’m now a pauper Because of its tortley turtley torpor._ [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2015, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-a-tortoise-and-a-turtle/739513/14 "2015-12-06T21:17:43Z")
The tortoise lays on its back, its belly baking in the hot sun, beating its legs trying to turn itself over, but it can’t. Not without your help. But you’re not helping. Why is that? ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2015, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-a-tortoise-and-a-turtle/739513/15 "2015-12-06T21:24:04Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > I tortoise will normally have a higher domed shell and feet that are not webbed for swimming. Water turtles will often have legs more like flippers. Box turtles throw a monkey wrench into the works, however. They live on dry land and have high-domed shells and stumpy feet like tortoises, but they are turtles both by their common name and by scientific classification, being more closely related to pond turtles than to tortoises. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2015, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-a-tortoise-and-a-turtle/739513/16 "2015-12-06T22:22:21Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > Box turtles throw a monkey wrench into the works, however. They live on dry land and have high-domed shells and stumpy feet like tortoises, but they are turtles both by their common name and by scientific classification, being more closely related to pond turtles than to tortoises. I was kayaking on the Saint Francis river in Missouri and happened upon a box turtle swimming across the river. He wasn’t moving very fast and didn’t seem to be able to submerge. We were the only ones out there that day so it’s unlikely that someone tossed him out there. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-a-tortoise-and-a-turtle/739513/17 "2015-12-07T02:33:18Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > Birds are actually reptiles, too. If you go far enough back in the evolutionary tree, you’ll find that I’m related to bacteria. That doesn’t mean I am one. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-a-tortoise-and-a-turtle/739513/18 "2015-12-07T03:24:57Z")
No comment about how gawd-awful stupid the people “helping” the tortoises are? ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-a-tortoise-and-a-turtle/739513/19 "2015-12-07T03:30:16Z")
Reality may have confused The Byrds with The Turtles. The former sang “Turn, Turn, Turn.” The latter, “So Happy Together.” ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-a-tortoise-and-a-turtle/739513/20 "2015-12-07T04:32:34Z")
A man was walking the beach, which was covered in stranded starfish. Another man was picking the starfish up, and tossing them back into the ocean. The first man tells the second man he is a fool, that it won’t make a difference. The second man tosses another starfish back into the ocean, and says “Made a difference for that one”. This story is pretty much the exact opposite. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-a-tortoise-and-a-turtle/739513.md?page=2)