Eurasian Pond and River Turtles and Neotropical Wood Turtles: Geoemydidae

Eurasian pond and river turtles and neotropical wood turtles are small to large turtles. The upper shell, or carapace (KARE-a-pays), is bony. Most of these turtles have webbing between their toes. Some of them have a side-to-side hinge in the bottom shell, or plastron (PLAS-trun), which allows them to close up tight if they feel threatened. In some species, the males and females look quite different from each other. The male Indian tent turtle, for example, grows to only about a third of the size of the female, which is typically 1 foot (30.5 centimeters) long. The largest members of this family weigh 110 pounds (50 kilograms) and have upper shells that can reach 32 inches (81 centimeters) in length.