European pond turtle
Emys orbicularis
— Where the name comes from
Emys was the Greek name for freshwater turtles, distinct from the chelṓnē of the land; orbicularis means “roundish”, for the shape of the shell seen from above. It is the only freshwater turtle native to much of Europe, and the fact that other ones now swim in many ponds does not mean they were always there.
— Facts
- Group
- Reptiles · Reptilia
- Order
- Turtles and tortoises
- Habitat
- Ponds, canals, marshes, oxbows with muddy bottoms
- Range
- Southern and central Europe, North Africa, western Asia
- Size
- 12–20 cm of carapace, 400–1,000 g
- Diet
- Aquatic insects, tadpoles, fish, carrion, plants
- Lifespan
- over 60 years, up to 100
— Characteristics
- 01
The dark carapace is speckled with very fine yellow rays.
- 02
It spends the winter buried in the mud on the bottom, without breathing air.
- 03
At the least sound it drops into the water from the log it was basking on.
— What sets it apart
English and Danish peat bogs hold remains of it from seven thousand years ago, when its range reached much further north than today: they are a fossil thermometer, because this species needs summers warm enough for the eggs to develop. Its retreat southwards records the cooling of the European climate after the postglacial optimum — and now the problem is the opposite: where the water is still there, the occupant is the American terrapin let out of an aquarium.
