Freshwater Turtles in Eastern North America can be either highly aquatic (staying in water most of their lives) or semi-aquatic. There are also other species (although fewer) that are mostly terrestrial; yet these souls tend to live in more arid areas of North America.

In this part of the world, in eastern North America, you are most likely to see turtles out and about between May and October; and on warm days (where the ambient temperature is greater than 21 degrees Celsius/72 F) turtles will feel comfortable moving.

Turtles are older than the dinosaurs, and snapping turtles have retained the same shape/not evolving significantly since the Cretaceous period. Turtles are truly a marvel in their shape, habitats, and abilities. You can learn more about turtles, by first getting to know the different species and their habitats.

Parts of a Turtle

  • The top shell of a turtle is called a carapace
  • The under-shell of a turtle is called a plastron
  • Many turtles have distinct carapace shapes or markings that can be used to identify them. Some turtles have colouring such as yellow-throats or red lines on their necks. Some turtles are very small and don't grow bigger than your hand such as the stink-pot or slightly bigger is the spotted turtle.
  • The triangular or geometric sections on the carapace are called scutes
  • Marginal scutes are found around the carapace and ridges are the nodes/connections between them.
  • It may be hard to distinguish the difference between the sexes of some species. Some species, such as with the Blanding's turtle have different shaped plastrons. The male Blanding's turtle plastron will be flat, while the female's will be arched. Other species' sexes can be deciphered through the length of their nails: male painted turtles have longer nails than those on their back legs/feet and females have short nails.
  • Common Snapping turtles cannot hide; with very small "bikini" plastrons they are not able to hide from predators, therefore, their only defense is to snap when they feel threatened. In water they are often gentle and would prefer to retreat than to approach.

Download and Print our Ontario Turtle Cheat Sheet

Download and Print our ID Cheat Sheet

Learn more about Ontario's Freshwater Turtles Species here:

Test Your Knowledge: Take the Turtle ID Test