Diamondback terrapin
Overview
The diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin) or simply terrapin, is a species
of turtle
native to the brackish
coastal swamp
s of the eastern and southern United States
. It belongs to the monotypic
genus, Malaclemys. It is has one of the largest ranges of all turtles in North America, stretching from the Florida Keys to Cape Cod.
The name "terrapin" is derived from the Algonquian
word torope.
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of turtle
Turtle
Turtles are reptiles of the order Testudines , characterised by a special bony or cartilaginous shell developed from their ribs that acts as a shield...
native to the brackish
Brackish water
Brackish water is water that has more salinity than fresh water, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing of seawater with fresh water, as in estuaries, or it may occur in brackish fossil aquifers. The word comes from the Middle Dutch root "brak," meaning "salty"...
coastal swamp
Swamp
A swamp is a wetland with some flooding of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a large number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types of swamp are "true" or swamp...
s of the eastern and southern United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It belongs to the monotypic
Monotypic
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group with only one biological type. The term's usage differs slightly between botany and zoology. The term monotypic has a separate use in conservation biology, monotypic habitat, regarding species habitat conversion eliminating biodiversity and...
genus, Malaclemys. It is has one of the largest ranges of all turtles in North America, stretching from the Florida Keys to Cape Cod.
The name "terrapin" is derived from the Algonquian
Algonquian languages
The Algonquian languages also Algonkian) are a subfamily of Native American languages which includes most of the languages in the Algic language family. The name of the Algonquian language family is distinguished from the orthographically similar Algonquin dialect of the Ojibwe language, which is a...
word torope.
