Turtles Information :

Turtles are reptiles whose soft body is covered by a hard shell. There are approximately 300 turtle species still alive today with many being endangered. Many Turtles have already become extinct. Turtles are one of the oldest Reptile groups, a lot more ancient than Lizards and even Snakes.
The largest recorded desert tortoise was called "Maximus" a captive tortoise measuring 15 inches in carapace length and weighing 23 pounds (St. Amant, 1976).

Habitat:

Different species of turtles live on land, some water and some on land and water.
Turtles that live on land are mainly known as Tortoises. A terrapin is a turtle that lives in or near freshwater, partly salty or coastal water. There are also Sea Turtles that live in the sea.

Some people keep pet turtles in a turtle box. These are commonly known as box turtles

Diet; Food and eating habbits:

Turtles use their jaws to chew and eat food. Instead of having teeth, turtles have horny ridges that effectively allows them to devour food.
Turtles use their tongues to swallow food, however unlike other reptiles they can't stick their tongue out of their mouth to catch food. 

Predators:

It is thought that many of the giant tortoises that became extinct did so due to mankind hunting them. Today, mankind are still hunting turtles, especially for the usage of turtle shells, leather, oil, and calipee to produce ornaments, jewellery, and other products.

Predators of the turtle include skunks, raccoons, minks, dogs, racers, cottonmouths, copperheads, rodents and Tiger Sharks, who eat Sea turtles 

Social Structure:

A collective group of Turtles is known as a "bale of turtles" however a common misconception mainly used by owners that keep turtles as pets, is to call a group a "herd". 

Birth, Offspring:

Some turtles can lay up to 16 eggs, generally the number of eggs laid is 2-16 depending on species.
After mating, the female Giant Tortoise travel several miles looking for dry, sandy ground and dig a hole about 12 inches (30 centimetres) deep. Here they lay hard-shelled eggs the size of tennis balls, then cover them up with sand. 

Attributes:

Most turtles can pull their legs, tail, and head into their shell for protection. Turtles have horny ridges instead of teeth. Carnivores turtles have sharp ridges for slicing through meet, Herbivorous turtles have saw-toothed like ridges for cutting through plants. 

Fun Facts:

1. The most famous turtles were of course the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
2. Another famous fiction was the story of the Hair versus the Tortoise, in which the Tortoise slowly plodded his way to victory!
3. Turtles are able to pull their legs, tail and head into their shell. Turtles do this in self-defence.