Editing Tortoise (section)

==Terminology==
Differences exist in usage of the common terms [[turtle]], tortoise, and [[terrapin]], depending on the variety of English being used; usage is inconsistent and contradictory.<ref name="Simoons">Simoons, Frederick J. (1991). ''Food in China: A Cultural and Historical Inquiry''. CRC Press. {{ISBN|084938804X}}. p. 358.</ref> These terms are common names and do not reflect precise biological or taxonomic distinctions.<ref name="WildlifeEncy">Burton, Maurice and Burton, Robert (2002). ''International Wildlife Encyclopedia''. Marshall Cavendish. {{ISBN|0761472665}}. p. 2796.</ref>[[File:SmithTestudoSkeleton.jpg|thumb|Skeleton of a tortoise|210x210px]]The [[American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists]] uses "turtle" to describe all species of the order Testudines, regardless of whether they are land-dwelling or sea-dwelling, and uses "tortoise" as a more specific term for slow-moving terrestrial species.<ref name="Simoons" /> General American usage agrees; turtle is often a general term; tortoise is used only in reference to terrestrial turtles or, more narrowly, only those members of Testudinidae, the family of modern land tortoises; and terrapin may refer to turtles that are small and live in fresh and brackish water, in particular the [[diamondback terrapin]] (''Malaclemys terrapin'').<ref>Orenstein, Ronald Isaac (2001). ''Turtles, Tortoises and Terrapins: Survivors in Armor''. Firefly Books. {{ISBN|1770851194}}</ref><ref name="SanDiegoZoo">{{cite web|url=http://www.sandiegozoo.org/animalbytes/t-turtle.html|title=Turtle|publisher=Sandiegozoo.org|access-date=2012-09-16|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101206125855/http://www.sandiegozoo.org/animalbytes/t-turtle.html|archive-date=2010-12-06}}</ref><ref name="NCA">[http://www.ncaquariums.com/ask-the-aquarium/what-is-the-difference-between-turtles-terrapins-and-tortoises What is the difference between turtles, terrapins, and tortoises?] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150505004238/http://www.ncaquariums.com/ask-the-aquarium/what-is-the-difference-between-turtles-terrapins-and-tortoises|date=2015-05-05}}, North Carolina Aquariums (July 1997).</ref><ref name="Dawkins">Dawkins, Richard (2009). ''[[The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution]]''. Free Press. {{ISBN|1416594795}}. p. 174.</ref> In America, for example, the members of the genus ''[[Terrapene]]'' dwell on land, yet are referred to as [[box turtle]]s rather than tortoises.<ref name="WildlifeEncy" />

British usage, by contrast, tends not to use "turtle" as a generic term for all members of the order, and also applies the term "tortoises" broadly to all land-dwelling members of the order Testudines, regardless of whether they are actually members of the family Testudinidae.<ref name="Dawkins" /> In Britain, terrapin is used to refer to a larger group of semiaquatic turtles than the restricted meaning in America.<ref name="SanDiegoZoo" /><ref name="Endangered">''Endangered Wildlife and Plants of the World'', Vol. 1. Marshall Cavenish. (2001). {{ISBN|0761471952}}. p. 1476.</ref>

Australian usage is different from both American and British usage.<ref name="Dawkins" /> Land tortoises are not native to Australia, and traditionally freshwater turtles have been called "tortoises" in Australia.<ref name="Romanowski">Romanowski, Nick (2010). ''Wetland Habitats: A Practical Guide to Restoration and Management''. CSIRO Publishing. {{ISBN|9780643096462}}. p. 134.</ref> Some Australian experts disapprove of this usage—believing that the term tortoises is "better confined to purely terrestrial animals with very different habits and needs, none of which are found in this country"—and promote the use of the term "freshwater turtle" to describe Australia's primarily aquatic members of the order Testudines because it avoids misleading use of the word "tortoise" and also is a useful distinction from marine turtles.<ref name="Romanowski" />