Question: are terrapins and turtles the same?
Answer: Turtle, tortoise, and terrapin are all names for the hard-shelled, egg-laying reptiles in the taxonomic order Chelonia. Basically, they're all turtles. ... Terrapins are turtles that spend time both on land and in brackish, swampy water. The word “terrapin" comes from an Algonquian Indian word meaning “a little turtle."