Ever wonder how many kinds of turtles there are? Or if they have teeth? Why so many turtles have yellow stripes on their neck? If it is wise to feed turtles in your neighborhood pond or lake? Whit Gibbons and Judy Greene, two internationally known turtle biologists, provide complete answers to the most frequently asked questions about the more than 300 turtle, tortoise, and terrapin species of the world.

From the palm-sized bog turtles of the United States to the great oceanic leatherbacks, turtles across the globe are admired for their persistence, patience, and resilience. They are favorites of scientific study and beloved pets throughout the world. With a friendly mix of scientific analysis and basic encyclopedic coverage, Gibbons and Greene discuss a broad range of turtle topics, including behavior, ecology, reproduction and development, turtle-human relationships, and the appearance of turtles in popular literature.

With attractive photographs and an intuitive question-and-answer format, Gibbons and Greene answer more than 100 common questions about these remarkable creatures. Readers who want answers to specific questions or just want to expand their knowledge about these unique and interesting animals will find the information they seek in this essential reference.

Whit Gibbons is a professor emeritus of ecology at the University of Georgia. He writes the weekly environmental column Ecoviews and is the author or editor of eleven books, including Snakes of the Southeast. Judy Greene is the herpetology research coordinator at the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory and has coauthored, with Dr. Gibbons, a number of scholarly articles on herpetology and ecology.