SANParks.org Forums

Hi Can somebody tell me the differences between hinged tortoise and a hinged terrapins.

In short they are landbased (tortoise) and waterbased (terrapin).
The Spekes Hinged Tortoise (Kinixys Spekii) is a medium-sized tortoise with a smooth, depressed carapace with a well developed hinge. The shell of juveniles has a zonary pattern with concentric light and dark zones. These may persist in adult males while the dark zones break up in adult females.
Both male and females reach a size of 140 - 160 mm.

The Pan Hinged Terrapin (Pelusios Subniger) is a small hinged terrapin with a rounded, smooth shell and a small plastral hinge; no axillary. The head is large, with a blunt snout and smooth beak; there are usually 2 tentacles under the chin. The carapace is uniform brown, and brown-grey when dry.
Females reach 130 - 180 mm, thye males max. 200 mm.

To expand

Tortoises
-landbased (in SA theleopard totoise is the only one that I know of that can activly swim
-free claws
-withdraws it's head directly into the shell
-hinged tortoises with hinge on the back of the top shell (carapice)

terrapins
-Live in fresh water
-claws with some webbing
-withdraws its head sideways into it's shell
-hinged terrapins with hinge on the frount of the bottom shell (plastron)

turtles
-live in salt water