This large family of freshwater turtles is found throughout the United States, and is represented in Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa. Most of these turtles have oval, slightly rounded carapaces. They range in length from 6 to 13 inches (15 to 33 cm). The family includes pond turtles, map turtles, painted turtles, diamondback terrapins, sliders, cooters, and box turtles. The box turtle actually spends more time on land than in water. It gets its name from the fact that it can shut its shell tightly by pulling up parts of the plastron, so that it resembles a box.

Turtles are reptiles, a kind of cold-blooded animal. The body temperature of a cold-blooded animal stays about the same as the surrounding air and water. Reptiles have a backbone, and they breathe by means of lungs. Most reptiles have skin that is covered with horny plates or scales. Turtles, however, are the only reptile with a shell. This shell protects the turtle from predators (animals that hunt and eat other animals) and is actually part of a turtle’s skeleton.

The box turtle forms a genus of turtle called Terrapene, which belongs to the pond and marsh turtle family. There are about 90 kinds of pond and marsh turtles in Asia, Europe, North and South America, and northern Africa. Many pond and marsh turtles live in water. Box turtles, however, live on land near ponds and rivers, such as marshes, wetlands, and bogs.

Pond and marsh turtles make up the biggest family of turtles. There are just over 90 different species of them. Most live in lakes, ponds, and rivers. A few spend most of their time on land.

When swimming underwater, pond and marsh turtles need to come to the surface to breathe. Like all turtles, these turtles have lungs and need to breathe air. But turtles don’t need to breathe as often as humans do. Some pond and marsh turtles take only one breath an hour.

Like sea turtles, pond and marsh turtles are good swimmers. But most pond and marsh turtles have webbed feet, while most sea turtles have feet that look like flippers. And most freshwater turtles have large hind legs and smaller front limbs. Pond and marsh turtles are much smaller than sea turtles, too. Most, like the map turtle you see here, are no bigger around than a dinner plate.

There are other types of pond and marsh turtles besides box turtles—one is the pond slider. Pond sliders are “basking turtles” that live near permanent bodies of water, such as ponds and rivers. These turtles are very fond of gathering in groups on logs and rocks and basking—that is, warming themselves—in the sun. Pond sliders are also good swimmers.

Pond sliders are found in the southern and central United States. There is also a Big Bend slider that lives along the upper Rio Grande around the border of the United States and Mexico. Other kinds of sliders can be found in Mexico,

Central America, South America, and on islands in the Caribbean Sea.

One type of pond slider that is fairly easy to recognize is the red-eared slider. These turtles often have bright red streaks behind their eyes. Sadly, at one time people treated red-eared sliders somewhat as “disposable” pets. There is now greater awareness of how to take proper care of these and other kinds of turtles.

Another member of the pond and marsh turtle family is the chicken turtle. A chicken turtle is a small, aquatic turtle that feeds on plants, tadpoles, and crayfish. It is found along waterways in the southeastern and central United States.

It is called a chicken turtle because some say its flesh is mild and tasty, like chicken.

A chicken turtle has a very long neck. When this turtle stretches its neck, it looks like a snake slithering out from a shell. A chicken turtle also has “striped pants.” Its legs and rump have yellow stripes on them.

Chicken turtles are rare in some places and so are protected in the wild. You should not, therefore, buy a chicken turtle. In addition, some chicken turtles tend to bite. Others are shy around people, so this species does not make an ideal pet.

A map turtle is also a pond and marsh turtle. This aquatic turtle basks on fallen trees and deadwood in lakes and rivers in the central and southeastern United States and in Quebec in Canada. The map turtle rarely leaves its water home for land. It is also a shy turtle. A basking map turtle will quickly vanish beneath the water’s surface if startled by people.

Map turtles get their name from the intricate line patterns on their shell, which look like markings on a map. Some map turtles also have spinelike projections along the back of their shell. These turtles, called sawbacks, look something like a tiny dinosaur.

Map turtles are more sensitive to water quality than other aquatic turtles.

Terrapin (TEHR uh pihn) is the name given to a group of turtles that live in creeks and shallow marshes along the seacoast. Water is not a terrapin’s only home, though. Many terrapins live both on land and in the water. No other turtles live in such a wide variety of habitats.

In the morning, large groups of terrapins often sun themselves on the banks of a pond or a river. They stretch out their legs and heads as far as possible to soak in the sun’s rays. They’re not trying to get a tan, though. They’re just warming themselves up after a cool dip in the water.

Diamondback terrapins live along the eastern and southern coasts of the United States. These small turtles belong to the pond and marsh turtle family. They mostly eat snails, crawfish, and water plants.