Glossary

A growing list of useful terms…

• Animal Hierarchy in order:  KINGDOM | PHYLUM | CLASS | ORDER | FAMILY |  GENUS | SPECIES
• Bale: group of turtles.
• Bridge: area between the upper plate (carapace) and bottom plate (plastron) of a turtle/tortoise’s shell. 
• Brumate: from brumation meaning a semi-hibernation state, where a reptile goes into sluggish, slowed period, not a full hibernation rest.
• Carapace: the top boney shell of tortoise/turtle.
• Creep: group of tortoises.
• Gravid: pregnant or carry eggs.
• Gular: is a scute projection found on the plastron under the head, used as a protective bone.
• Metabolic Bone Disease (MBD): a condition of improper grow of boney material. Caused improper diet; lacking proper amounts of calcium, phosphorus, and vitamin D. 
• Plastron: the bottom plate or underside of a tortoise/turtle.
• Pyramiding: growth in captive tortoises where the carapace scutes grow upward into pyramid-like shapes. Said to be caused by MBD; a combination of diet, humidity, proper lighting, exercise play a role in this abnormality.
• Quarantine: period of time and/or place of isolation in which to separate from the group to avoid exposure to communicable disease.
• Scute: thick horny or bony plates on a turtle’s shell.
• Terrapin: Native American word for little turtle, they are small turtles that are found living in North American usually Eastern coastal marshes or brackish water (saltier water than fresh water, but not ocean salty).
• Testudine: order of reptile concerning turtles, terrapins, and tortoises.
• Tortoise: reptile with a hard shell that consistently lives on dry land. Notably the longest living animal, with elephantine feet.
• Turtle: reptile with a hard shell or thick leather-like shell that consistently lives in water and can live on land, with webbed-like feet for moving through water.