Terrapin Museums
Hey humans, it feels good to know that you visit Terrapin Museums to know about us.
It makes us feel special.
Even though most members of my family are extinct, I, the terrapin am still alive.
Many of you know me as the Diamondback Terrapin.
At least most Americans and British call me by that name.
You know why I got that name? You see, I have a unique carapace (shell) which is beautiful in color and has diamond shaped patterns on it.
I can boast of my coat because no other turtle or tortoise has such a beautiful coat.
Since you go to terrapin museums to visit me, I think it will be fair on my part to let you know about my ancestry.
You humans are so lazy, you just come and stare at me in the museum; make some comments and move on to the next exhibit.
But you really don't bother to read anything about me.
That's why I think I should tell you.
To begin with, I belong to the Malaclemys family of turtles.
We belong to the Chelonia order.
Do you know that many of my cousins are extinct now? I'm so sad about that.
You humans are so self-centered! You could not save my fellow turtles from extinction! We are closely related to North American Map turtles.
We are similar to the tortoise but our shells are not that thick and hard.
We have webbed feet and look like sea turtles from outside.
Want to know our address? Well, we stay in the estuaries and marsh lands of Bermuda and the Atlantic Coast.
Salt water is what we love and we can survive even if the concentration of salt is high because our skins are impermeable to salt and our lachrymal glands become active when we are dehydrated.
But don't be under the wrong impression that we drink salt water.
Like you, even we drink fresh water using a lot of inbuilt mechanisms.
Do you know unlike you humans, our males (6 inches) are shorter than our females (9 inches)? Our females are not fragile like yours.
They are the stronger sex.
When it comes to food, they have stronger jaws than the males and they use them for crushing food mostly consisting of molluscs and other hard-shelled animals.
Hey! Our favorite pastime is swimming.
Though we don't have flippers like sea turtles, we swim well with our webbed feet.
So much about us for now! If you want to know more, you should read more! Goodbye!
It makes us feel special.
Even though most members of my family are extinct, I, the terrapin am still alive.
Many of you know me as the Diamondback Terrapin.
At least most Americans and British call me by that name.
You know why I got that name? You see, I have a unique carapace (shell) which is beautiful in color and has diamond shaped patterns on it.
I can boast of my coat because no other turtle or tortoise has such a beautiful coat.
Since you go to terrapin museums to visit me, I think it will be fair on my part to let you know about my ancestry.
You humans are so lazy, you just come and stare at me in the museum; make some comments and move on to the next exhibit.
But you really don't bother to read anything about me.
That's why I think I should tell you.
To begin with, I belong to the Malaclemys family of turtles.
We belong to the Chelonia order.
Do you know that many of my cousins are extinct now? I'm so sad about that.
You humans are so self-centered! You could not save my fellow turtles from extinction! We are closely related to North American Map turtles.
We are similar to the tortoise but our shells are not that thick and hard.
We have webbed feet and look like sea turtles from outside.
Want to know our address? Well, we stay in the estuaries and marsh lands of Bermuda and the Atlantic Coast.
Salt water is what we love and we can survive even if the concentration of salt is high because our skins are impermeable to salt and our lachrymal glands become active when we are dehydrated.
But don't be under the wrong impression that we drink salt water.
Like you, even we drink fresh water using a lot of inbuilt mechanisms.
Do you know unlike you humans, our males (6 inches) are shorter than our females (9 inches)? Our females are not fragile like yours.
They are the stronger sex.
When it comes to food, they have stronger jaws than the males and they use them for crushing food mostly consisting of molluscs and other hard-shelled animals.
Hey! Our favorite pastime is swimming.
Though we don't have flippers like sea turtles, we swim well with our webbed feet.
So much about us for now! If you want to know more, you should read more! Goodbye!
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