What is the difference between a tortoise and a turtle?

What is a tortoise anyway? Is it just a fancy way to say “turtle”? Well, actually, there's a meaningful difference between tortoises and other turtles. All tortoises are in fact turtles—that is, they belong to the order Testudines or Chelonia, reptiles having bodies encased in a bony shell—but not all turtles are tortoises. read more

The major difference between the two is that tortoises dwell on land, while turtles live in the water some or nearly all of the time. The bodies of tortoises and turtles are both shielded by a shell, the upper part of which is called carapace, with the lower portion called a plastron. read more

Well, actually, there’s a meaningful difference between tortoises and other turtles. All tortoises are in fact turtles—that is, they belong to the order Testudines or Chelonia, reptiles having bodies encased in a bony shell—but not all turtles are tortoises. read more

The last difference between turtles and tortoises is shell shape. Because turtles spend time in the water, their shells are flatter for stream-lined swimming. A tortoise has more of a dome shape to its shell. read more