Turtle Power! Trivia Quiz

Answer: red-eared slider

The red-eared slider is a North American turtle with a pleasant temperament. In the wild, they congregate in groups on logs; in captivity, they need a heat lamp for temperature regulation. It is the most popular pet turtle across the world, and extensive breeding has resulted in some gorgeous color varieties (check out the golden one if you have a moment!).

Its popularity as a pet inevitably leads to people dumping unwanted ones into the wild and it is listed by the IUCN as one of the world's most invasive species.

Answer: with a worm-like tongue

Snapping turtles are large and fearless critters, and alligator snapping turtles particularly so. Alligator snapping turtles use aggressive mimicry to lure fish. Their tongues are worm-like, and by wiggling them, fish come straight to their gaping jaws.

While snapping turtles do have large, sharp jaws, their bite force is not particularly strong relative to their size. As you might imagine, adult snapping turtles have little to fear from other animals, and their most dangerous "predator" is the car.

Answer: pond turtle

The European pond turtle is the most common turtle of Europe and is most recognizable by the yellow spots on its head. Though widespread, many populations are locally threatened, and most places protect it by law. You are most likely to encounter them in wetland areas (thus the name) but they can be found in upland areas as well. Females prefer to stick to the same nesting site year after year, and it is temperature that determines the gender of the hatched turtles.

Answer: largest

Measuring in at up to 7.2 ft (2.2 m) and 1500 lb (700 kg), the leatherback tips the scales as the largest of turtles. It is one of a number of turtles adapted to ocean life and can be found in a large percentage of Earth's oceans. It feeds almost exclusively on jellyfish and its mouth is filled with backwards-pointing spines (not teeth) for this reason; also for this reason, they commonly die from mistakenly ingesting plastic bags. Adult leatherbacks spend nearly their entire lives at sea and mainly come ashore to lay eggs.

Answer: mata-mata

Native to South America, the mata-mata has an unusual appearance, with a leaf-like head and bark-like shell. They are relatively sedentary and, as might be suggested by their appearance, live among slow-moving water filled with dead plant matter. The long neck, tipped with a tubular nose, lets them stay in shallow water while being able to breach the surface to breathe. Being sedentary, mata-matas do not really hunt, and use suction to pull in fish that get close to their mouths.

Answer: breathing

Turtles breathe through interesting means. Their shell is their ribcage, so it can't expand and contract in the way you'd usually think it could, and this is why a number of turtles have alternate means of getting oxygen. Some can absorb it through their skin.

Others have special muscles or use movement to pump the lungs. A few use cloacal respiration, and yes, it's exactly what it sounds like. They can draw water through their cloaca, where it comes into contact with sacs called bursa. Oxygen filters to the bursa, giving them an alternative way of doing one of life's most basic tasks.

Answer: pyramidal shell

While not scientifically defined as such, the commonly accepted difference between a turtle and tortoise is that tortoises live on land. (Most turtles live around water, but some live mainly on land.) Because of the habitat difference, most turtles have streamlined or ridged shells. Tortoises have relatively heavy shells and sturdier legs.

Some (not all) tortoises have pyramidal bumps on their shells. The radiated tortoise pictured is native to Madagascar and is endangered despite having a lifespan of upwards of two centuries.

Answer: hinged plastron

Box turtles have a hinged plastron (lower half of the shell). Instead of merely withdrawing into their shells, they can close themselves entirely, creating an adorable, well-protected little package. Although popular pets, box turtles are relatively picky and difficult to keep successfully. Provided that they are not disturbed, box turtles are long-lived.

They can be found in a wide variety of habitats and have a wide dietary range. They are considered a generalist species.

Answer: movement

Turtles have shells to begin with as protection, and yet a number of turtles have very soft, pliant shells. The big advantage this gives them is it makes it easier for them to move as the lighter shell does not weigh them down. Despite their goofy appearance, softshell turtles can be quite dangerous as they bite hard.

They also have relatively few predators. Softshell turtles are among the most regularly eaten turtles, particularly in East Asia (in the Americas, snapping turtles are more likely to be used).

Answer: Seychelles

During ages past, giant tortoises could be found across large parts of the world. Many of them died out long before history began (and there is relatively little evidence to suggest that humans were the cause in most cases). They became restricted to remote islands thousands of years ago, and in recent times, sailors who stopped by those islands overexploited them as an easy food source.

The last remaining giant tortoises are the ten remaining species in the Galapagos and the Aldabra giant tortoise of Seychelles.

They are considered vulnerable but unlikely to go extinct.