Page 111 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - South Africa

FIELD GUIDE  109

Terrapin
The long muscular tail Family: Pelomedusidae • Best Seen: iSimangaliso, Kruger,
is used to propel and Ndumo
steer through the water.
Most Species: LC
South Africa is home to four freshwater terrapin
species, most of which are flatter and a plainer
brown than any of the region’s tortoises. They
are usually seen in or close to water, sunning on
partially submerged rocks or dead logs, or peering
out from roadside puddles. Far and away the most
common and widespread species is the marsh
terrapin, which inhabits waterholes, puddles and
other stagnant water bodies in savannah habitats,
but often wanders considerable distances on land
in rainy weather. It estivates during the dry season,
burying itself deep in mud to re-emerge only
after the first rains – hence the local legend that
terrapins drop from the sky during storms.

Marsh terrapin basking in the sun
Marine Turtle
Family: Chelonioidea • Best Seen: iSimangaliso
Most Species: CE or EN
Five of the world’s seven marine turtle
species occur along the South African
coast, and all are much larger than any
indigenous tortoises or terrapins. Two
species, the leatherback and loggerhead,
breed on the beaches of northern
KwaZulu-Natal, while the other three
(olive ridley, hawksbill and green turtle,
the latter named for the colour of its fat)
are visitors that breed further to the
north. An indivi dual turtle lays several
hundred eggs in the sand every season.
After two months of incubation, the
hatchlings make their way towards the
sea, whose temperature will affect their
sex – the cooler it is, the higher the
proportion of males. In the late 19th
century, marine turtles were common
to abun dant throughout their natural
habitat, with some populations num-
bering well into the millions. Today, as
a result of poaching and pollution, all
but one spe cies is classed as either
endangered or critically endangered.
Hawksbill turtle swimming gracefully through a reef
Key to Field Guide icons see p72

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