1. In the UK tortoises live on land, turtles live in the sea and terrapins live on both, but in the USA the word ‘turtle’ covers all types while Australians use ‘tortoise’ for any of them.
2. The top shell of a tortoise is the “carapace”; the bottom half of the shell is the “plastron”; the individual interlocking plates are called “scutes”.
3. Two Soviet tortoises were sent on a flight that orbited the Moon in 1968 about three months before humans orbited the Moon.
4. The alligator snapping turtle of N. America lures fish into its mouth with a tongue that looks like a worm.
5. “We called him tortoise because he taught us,” (Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland).
6. The Fitzroy River tortoise of Australia breathes through its rear end.
7. The collective noun for turtles is a ‘bale’.
8. There is a giant tortoise called Jonathan on the island of St. Helena that is estimated to be between 176 and 178 years old.
9. The fastest recorded speed of a giant tortoise is 5mph, which is faster than human walking pace.
10. The only Book of the Bible to mention tortoises is Leviticus (11:29) but turtles are mentioned in The Song of Solomon (2:12) and Jeremiah (8:7).
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