Turtles & Tortoises
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99 free Turtles & Tortoises trivia questions with answers — nature quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
50 free Turtles & Tortoises trivia questions with answers. Did you know that some turtles can hold their breath for up to 7 hours? Test your knowledge of these incredible shelled reptiles with our comprehensive 99-question quiz. From sea turtles to ancient tortoises, you'll explore the amazing world of chelonians.
30 of 99 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01How many recognized species of sea turtles exist today?
7
Six of the seven share the family Cheloniidae; the seventh is odd enough to have a family all to itself.
Q 02What is the top section of a turtle's shell called?
Carapace
The carapace is the domed upper shell, fused to the turtle's backbone and skeleton, which is why a turtle can never crawl out of its shell.
Q 03Which Spanish bishop first recorded the Galápagos Islands and their giant tortoises in 1535?
Tomás de Berlanga
Tomás de Berlanga, Bishop of Panama, drifted to the islands in 1535 and described tortoises so big each could carry a man in a letter to Emperor Charles V.
Q 04What determines the sex of most turtle hatchlings?
Incubation temperature
Most turtle species exhibit temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD). Warmer nest temperatures generally produce females, while cooler temperatures produce males.
Q 05What was the name of the last known Pinta Island tortoise?
Lonesome George
Lonesome George died on June 24, 2012, and with him the Pinta Island subspecies became extinct.
Q 06Which sea turtle species has a shell historically prized for making jewelry and hair combs?
Hawksbill sea turtle
The hawksbill sea turtle is critically endangered and was historically hunted for its beautifully patterned shell, known as 'tortoiseshell,' used in jewelry, combs, and decorative items.
Q 07What is the primary diet of adult green sea turtles?
Seagrass and algae
Adult green sea turtles are primarily herbivorous, feeding mainly on seagrasses and algae. They are the only herbivorous species among adult sea turtles.
Q 08What is the bottom part of a turtle's shell called?
Plastron
The plastron is the flat lower shell; the word came into English via French from the Italian piastrone, a breastplate, which is exactly what it resembles.
Q 09In the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise, which turtle wears a blue mask?
Leonardo
Leonardo, named after Leonardo da Vinci, wears a blue mask and wields twin katanas. He is typically portrayed as the leader of the group.
Q 10Which is the smallest of the sea turtle species?
Kemp's ridley
The Kemp's ridley is the smallest sea turtle: its shell runs to about 2 feet and adults weigh about 100 pounds, roughly half the length of a green turtle.
Q 11What is the approximate maximum lifespan of a Galápagos giant tortoise?
175 years
About 175 years is the usual upper figure: Harriet, a Galápagos tortoise kept at Australia Zoo, was estimated to be around 175 years old at her death, though most live a little over a century.
Q 12What do nesting sea turtles read to find their way back to the beach where they hatched?
Earth's magnetic field
Earth's magnetic field is the main cue: hatchlings imprint on their natal beach's geomagnetic signature, and adults use magnetoreception as an internal compass to return across whole oceans.
Q 13What do leatherback sea turtles primarily eat?
Jellyfish
Q 21What is each keratin plate on a turtle's shell called?
Scute
Scutes are the keratin plates covering the shell, made of the same material as hair and fingernails; their pattern and number help tell species apart.
Q 22What is unique about the leatherback compared with other sea turtles?
It lacks a bony shell
Unlike other sea turtles, the leatherback lacks a hard bony shell. Instead, it has a flexible, leather-like carapace made of connective tissue over a matrix of tiny bone fragments.
Q 23In American usage, the word 'tortoise' is reserved for members of the turtle order that live where?
On land
Leatherback sea turtles feed almost exclusively on jellyfish. Their throats contain backward-pointing spines that help them swallow slippery prey.
Q 14The alligator snapping turtle is native to rivers draining into which body of water?
Gulf of Mexico
Alligator snapping turtles live in river systems draining into the Gulf of Mexico, chiefly the Mississippi basin, reaching as far north as Illinois.
Q 15A Macrochelys snapping turtle lures fish with a worm-like tongue appendage. What do biologists call this trick?
Aggressive mimicry
It lies motionless with jaws agape and its camouflaged mouth open, twitching the pink lure like a worm; anything that bites gets a jaw snap.
Q 16What is the mass nesting event of sea turtles called, particularly associated with olive ridley turtles?
Arribada
An arribada (Spanish for 'arrival') is a mass nesting event where thousands of female sea turtles come ashore simultaneously to lay eggs. Olive ridleys are most famous for this behavior.
Q 17Which famous naturalist studied the giant tortoises of the Galápagos Islands in 1835?
Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin visited the Galápagos Islands in 1835 aboard HMS Beagle. His observations of the tortoises and finches contributed to his theory of evolution by natural selection.
Q 18By roughly how much have turtle excluder devices cut sea turtle bycatch in shrimp trawl nets?
About 97 percent
About 97 percent: a properly installed turtle excluder device releases roughly 97 percent of turtles entering a shrimp trawl; without it a stressed turtle, whose dive endurance collapses, can drown within minutes.
Q 19What type of turtle is known for breathing through its cloaca while hibernating underwater?
Painted turtle
Painted turtles and some other freshwater species can absorb oxygen through their cloaca while submerged during winter hibernation, a process called cloacal respiration.
Q 20Harriet, a Galápagos tortoise reputedly collected on the Beagle voyage, died in which year?
2006
Harriet died on 23 June 2006 at Australia Zoo in Queensland, where she had spent her final decades as one of the longest-lived animals on record.
On land: American English uses 'turtle' as the general term and reserves 'tortoise' for land-dwelling species, whereas Australian usage long called freshwater species tortoises.
Q 24How far can a leatherback sea turtle dive beneath the ocean surface?
Over 3,900 feet
Leatherback sea turtles are the deepest-diving reptiles, capable of reaching depths over 3,900 feet (1,200 meters) — deeper than most marine mammals.
Q 25In the TMNT franchise, what is the name of the turtles' rat sensei?
Master Splinter
A mutant rat, he trained the four turtles in ninjutsu in the sewers and raised them as his sons; in the 1987 cartoon he was the human ninja Hamato Yoshi before mutating.
Q 26What is the scientific order that includes all turtles and tortoises?
Testudines
Testudines (also called Chelonii) is the order covering every turtle, tortoise and terrapin, from sea turtles to land tortoises, united by a shell fused to the skeleton.
Q 27The gopher tortoise is the official state tortoise of which U.S. state?
Florida
Florida made the gopher tortoise its state tortoise in 2008; Georgia lists it as state reptile instead. Its burrows shelter over 350 other animal species, a keystone of the longleaf pine ecosystem.
Q 28Which organ lets sea turtles cry out the excess salt from the seawater they drink?
Tear glands
Tear glands: a salt gland behind each eye pumps out concentrated brine, which is why nesting females often look as though they are weeping.
Q 29Jonathan, a giant tortoise on Saint Helena, was recognised by Guinness in 2022 as what?
Oldest known living land animal
Guinness named Jonathan the oldest known living land animal in January 2022; hatched around 1832 and brought to Saint Helena in 1882, he was then about 190 years old.
Q 30In which tradition does the world rest on a giant turtle's back?
Hindu mythology
In Hindu mythology, the god Vishnu took the form of a giant turtle (Kurma) to support Mount Mandara. Many cultures, including some Native American traditions, also feature world-turtle cosmology.