Turtle facts: species, lifespan, diet and the three kinds of turtle

Turtle facts worth repeating at dinner: over 360 species, a 175-year tortoise, a 4,200-foot dive, and one plain answer for each of the 33 we’ve drawn.

How many species of turtles are there?

Over 360 known species, in three broad groups: sea turtles, freshwater turtles and tortoises, with a lineage that goes back about 220 million years. Turtle Tuesday has drawn 33 so far, from all three groups: sea turtles like the Hawksbill and Kemp’s Ridley, freshwater turtles like the Painted Turtle and the Red-eared Slider, and tortoises like the Galápagos Giant.

What is the difference between a turtle and a tortoise?

All tortoises are turtles, but not all turtles are tortoises. Turtle is the umbrella word for every shelled reptile in the order Testudines: sea turtles, freshwater turtles and the land-dwelling tortoises.

How long do turtles live?

It varies wildly by species. The Galápagos Giant Tortoise can pass 175 years, which puts it among the longest-lived vertebrates on Earth. Eastern Box Turtles can reach 100. Sea turtles like the Green Sea Turtle usually get 60 to 80 years. Even a Red-eared Slider can make 30 or 40 with proper care.

What do turtles eat?

It depends on the species. Green Sea Turtles graze seagrass and algae. Hawksbills eat sponges off coral reefs. Leatherbacks live almost entirely on jellyfish. Snapping Turtles take fish, frogs and plants. Galápagos Giant Tortoises eat cactus, grass and fruit. The Alligator Snapping Turtle lures fish with a worm-shaped tongue.

Which turtles are endangered?

Many are. The Hawksbill and Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles are Critically Endangered. The Green Sea Turtle and the Speckled Cape Tortoise are Endangered. The Leatherback, Loggerhead and Galápagos Giant Tortoise are Vulnerable. The threats are habitat loss, plastic, illegal trade, fishing nets and nesting beaches that are getting warmer.

Can a turtle leave its shell?

No. The shell is part of the skeleton: the ribs and backbone are fused to it, and nerves run through it, so a turtle feels a touch on its shell. A turtle out of its shell is a cartoon, not an animal.

How deep can sea turtles dive?

The Leatherback holds the record at 4,199 feet, deeper than the Empire State Building is tall and deeper than most submarines operate. Loggerheads reach about 750 feet. Most other sea turtles stay between 130 and 500 feet. Tortoises and freshwater turtles don’t dive deep at all. Many never leave the shallows, or the land.

Every species, one answer each

• Green Sea Turtle: The Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas) is found in tropical and subtropical coastal waters worldwide. Conservation status: Endangered. The ultimate zen vegan. Named for the color of their fat, not their shell. They can hold their breath for five hours by slowing their heart rate to one beat every nine minutes.
• Hawksbill Sea Turtle: The Hawksbill Sea Turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) is found in coral reefs and tropical coastlines. Conservation status: Critically Endangered. The reef's quiet bodyguard. Recently discovered to be the first known biofluorescent reptile: they glow neon green and red under UV light.
• Eastern Box Turtle: The Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina) is found in eastern United States forests and meadows. Conservation status: Vulnerable. Lives a century and builds a mental map of every log and stream in its territory. If relocated, it will try to walk home until it dies.
• Red-eared Slider: The Red-eared Slider (Trachemys scripta elegans) is found in ponds, lakes and slow rivers across the Americas. Conservation status: Least Concern. The most popular pet turtle and one of the world's 100 worst invasive species. Adapts to basically any freshwater habitat on the planet.
• Mary River Turtle: The Mary River Turtle (Elusor macrurus) is found in the Mary River, Queensland, Australia. Conservation status: Endangered. Grows a green algae mohawk and breathes through specialized glands in its cloaca (butt), allowing it to stay submerged for 72 hours.
• Leatherback Sea Turtle: The Leatherback Sea Turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) is found in open ocean, all tropical and temperate seas. Conservation status: Vulnerable. The largest turtle on Earth: 750 to 840 pounds on a typical nesting beach, one on record reported past 2,000. Dives deeper than the Empire State Building is tall on a single breath.
• Loggerhead Sea Turtle: The Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Caretta caretta) is found in Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Ocean coastlines. Conservation status: Vulnerable. Named for its massive head and jaw muscles that crush conchs like party favors. Uses Earth's magnetic field to navigate back to its home beach.
• Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle: The Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle (Lepidochelys kempii) is found in the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic coast. Conservation status: Critically Endangered. The smallest and rarest sea turtle. Known for the 'arribada' where thousands of females storm the same beach on the same day to nest.
• Russian Tortoise: The Russian Tortoise (Agrionemys (Testudo) horsfieldii) is found in Central Asian steppes and deserts. Conservation status: Vulnerable. The first Earth creatures to travel around the Moon and return home alive in 1968, months before Apollo 8.
• Flatback Sea Turtle: The Flatback Sea Turtle (Natator depressus) is found in northern Australian coastal waters. Conservation status: Data Deficient. The homebody of sea turtles. Stays exclusively in Australian waters and doesn't leave the continental shelf.
• Painted Turtle: The Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta) is found in ponds, marshes and streams across North America. Conservation status: Least Concern. Vivid red and yellow streaks on dark skin. Their hatchlings can survive being frozen solid through winter, thawing out in spring unharmed.
• Olive Ridley Sea Turtle: The Olive Ridley Sea Turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea) is found in tropical regions worldwide. Conservation status: Vulnerable. Participates in the arribada: synchronized mass nesting events of up to 500,000 individuals over a few days.
• Snapping Turtle: The Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina) is found in lakes, rivers and swamps, eastern North America. Conservation status: Least Concern. Virtually unchanged for 40 million years. Can't retract into its shell, so it evolved a legendary bite force instead.
• Galápagos Giant Tortoise: The Galápagos Giant Tortoise (Chelonoidis nigra complex) is found in the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador. Conservation status: Vulnerable. Can live past 175 years. Their shell shapes helped Charles Darwin form the foundation of the theory of evolution.
• Alligator Snapping Turtle: The Alligator Snapping Turtle (Macrochelys temminckii) is found in southeastern United States rivers. Conservation status: Endangered. The largest freshwater turtle in North America. Features a bright pink, worm-shaped lure on its tongue to attract prey.
• Spiny Softshell Turtle: The Spiny Softshell Turtle (Apalone spinifera) is found in rivers, lakes and streams across North America. Conservation status: Least Concern. Flat, leathery, pancake-shaped disc with a snorkel nose. Can absorb oxygen through its skin underwater.
• Speckled Cape Tortoise: The Speckled Cape Tortoise (Chersobius signatus) is found in Namaqualand, Northern Cape, South Africa. Conservation status: Endangered. The world's smallest tortoise: a thumb-sized, black-speckled dweller of South Africa's Namaqualand that hides from predators and heat inside narrow rock cracks.
• Radiated Tortoise: The Radiated Tortoise (Astrochelys radiata) is found in southern and southwestern Madagascar. Conservation status: Critically Endangered. One of the most beautiful tortoises on Earth, a Madagascar endemic with brilliant yellow starbursts radiating from each scute.
• Ploughshare Tortoise (Angonoka): The Ploughshare Tortoise (Angonoka) (Astrochelys yniphora) is found in the Baly Bay region, northwestern Madagascar. Conservation status: Critically Endangered. One of the rarest tortoises on Earth, a Madagascar endemic whose males wield a plough-like shell spur to flip rivals in breeding-season duels.
• Aldabra Giant Tortoise: The Aldabra Giant Tortoise (Aldabrachelys gigantea) is found in Aldabra Atoll, Seychelles. Conservation status: Vulnerable. The second-largest tortoise on Earth. They reshape their island home by grazing, creating specialized 'tortoise turf'.
• Burmese Star Tortoise: The Burmese Star Tortoise (Geochelone platynota) is found in dry forests of central Myanmar. Conservation status: Critically Endangered. A conservation success story, brought back from near extinction through intensive captive breeding programs.
• Indian Star Tortoise: The Indian Star Tortoise (Geochelone elegans) is found in dry scrub of India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Conservation status: Vulnerable. Its tall, steeply domed shell is a near-perfect self-righting shape: flip it over and geometry rolls it back onto its feet.
• Leopard Tortoise: The Leopard Tortoise (Stigmochelys pardalis) is found in savannas of eastern and southern Africa. Conservation status: Least Concern. The fourth-largest tortoise on Earth: a gentle savanna grazer in a leopard's coat, built for African heat and drought.
• Egyptian Tortoise: The Egyptian Tortoise (Testudo kleinmanni) is found in deserts of Egypt and Libya. Conservation status: Critically Endangered. The smallest tortoise in the Northern Hemisphere: a palm-sized desert survivor, Critically Endangered and all but gone from Egypt.
• African Pancake Tortoise: The African Pancake Tortoise (Malacochersus tornieri) is found in rocky kopjes of Kenya and Tanzania. Conservation status: Critically Endangered. A flat, flexible tortoise that traded armor for speed: it runs into rock cracks and wedges itself tight instead of hiding in its shell. Critically Endangered.
• African Spurred Tortoise: The African Spurred Tortoise (Centrochelys sulcata) is found in the Sahel and southern edge of the Sahara, northern Africa. Conservation status: Endangered. The largest tortoise on any mainland and the third largest on Earth: an unhurried Sahel giant that digs burrows up to 15 meters deep. Endangered.
• Eastern Long-necked Turtle: The Eastern Long-necked Turtle (Chelodina longicollis) is found in slow rivers and swamps of eastern Australia. Conservation status: Least Concern. A neck about 60% the length of its shell that folds sideways under the rim, and a musk it releases when alarmed.
• Northern Spider Tortoise: The Northern Spider Tortoise (Pyxis arachnoides brygooi) is found in coastal southwestern Madagascar. Conservation status: Critically Endangered. The smallest spider tortoise, and the only one with no hinge in its belly shell. Critically Endangered in southwestern Madagascar.
• Red-footed Tortoise: The Red-footed Tortoise (Chelonoidis carbonarius) is found in forest edges, clearings and savannas of northern South America. Conservation status: Endangered. Named for the red scales on its dark legs, and famous in science for one experiment: tortoises that watched another walk around a fence to reach food learned to do it too. The ones that never watched never solved it. It eats fallen fruit, and the seeds come out the other end ready to grow.
• Desert Tortoise: The Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) is found in the Mojave Desert of California, Nevada, Utah and Arizona. Conservation status: Critically Endangered. Spends at least 95% of its life underground in burrows it digs itself, and its bladder can hold over 40% of its body weight in water. Pick one up and it may empty that store to get away from you. So please don't.
• Matamata: The Matamata (Chelus fimbriata) is found in slow rivers and swamps of the Amazon Basin and eastern Guianas. Conservation status: Least Concern. Looks like a piece of bark with leaves stuck to it, and breathes through its snorkel snout. When a fish comes close, it opens its mouth and expands its throat so fast the fish is pulled in and swallowed whole.
• Big-headed Turtle: The Big-headed Turtle (Platysternon megacephalum) is found in rocky mountain streams of southern China and Southeast Asia. Conservation status: Critically Endangered. Its head is too big to pull into its shell, so it comes armored, with a hooked beak. It climbs steep rock in cool mountain streams on long claws and a tail strong enough to hold its whole weight.
• Pascagoula Map Turtle: The Pascagoula Map Turtle (Graptemys gibbonsi) is found in clear, sandy rivers of the Pascagoula system, Mississippi. Conservation status: Endangered. Fine, swirling lines on its shell look like the contours on a map. Females grow far bigger than males, with broad jaws for clams, in one river system in Mississippi.

About Turtle Tuesday Club

Turtle Tuesday Club is a free weekly turtle art project created by artist Lee Eisenbarth, who draws a new turtle every Tuesday for his son Henry. The project began on March 4, 2026 and runs as a 53-week series spanning sea turtles, freshwater turtles, and tortoises from around the world. 33 editions have been published so far. Every illustration is free to download under Creative Commons (CC BY 4.0).