What Type of Turtles are the TMNT?

[MikesPizzaShack]

i remember in the old school cartoon they were the aquatic type cuz he had them in a fish bowl of water....but i think there like box turtles or something vlose to that? does any1 know?

[Cascadia]

we do not know what kind they are.....they are definitely not sea turtles or tortoises. I think that they are a breed that is semi-aquatic.

[MikesPizzaShack]

well they cant be sea turtles since their a endagerd species and have flipers, and tortoises have a bukier bult to them where as regular turtles arnt. most turtles are aquatic but only a few will/do live under water most the time....

[Cascadia]

there are aquatic (100% in water), semi-aquatic (50% in water), and land turtles

[MikesPizzaShack]

well what im saying is there not sea turtles or tortoises cuz other wise they would be the Teenage Mutant Ninja Sea Turtles or the Teenage Mutant Ninja Tortoises.....lol sounds funny if u thinka bout it

[Space Tanuki 9]

Wasn't there a kind of small freshwater turtle (terrapin -- sold commercially for food/pets, generally freshwater according to Reader's Digest GUide to North American Animals... mouthful) that was sold in America in the 70's that was banned because of Salmonella concerns? I figure they might be one of those, since the time frame fits :) if they were 15 in 1984 when the comic came out, they'd be baby turtles in the 70's, right?

*imagines Splinter with a 'fro*

... weird.

[MikesPizzaShack]

well that interesting about the turtle thing but see their age is cuz of the mutagen .i dont think it took 15yrs for them to grow to what they are. i think they grew over a long time but not 15yrs since mutagen mutaes them and this could also make there age(while growing) go faster but see as most comics go even though it came out in the 80's the time at which its takeing place magicly becomes what ever year the comics are comeing out here in the real world..a great example of this is the spider-man comics...they came out in the 60's but in the comic world from the 60-03 only a matter of a few yrs have passed...the comic just went with years it was made

[Leo656]

They're a breed of turtles that don't exist in real life since none of their physical criteria matches that of any specefic type of turtle. It's not enough that Eastman and Laird were creative artists and writers... now we expect them to be experts on seafaring reptiles as well. :roll: I promise you neither of them ever thought about what kind of turtle the TMNT were supposed to be. Seriously.

[VaughnMichael]

the only only thats close to the tmnt would be a red ear slider..thats waht they used in the movie and also the cartoon looked like red ear sliders when they were babies
Vaughn Michael

[raphael_is_cool]

They're a breed of turtles that don't exist in real life since none of their physical criteria matches that of any specefic type of turtle. It's not enough that Eastman and Laird were creative artists and writers... now we expect them to be experts on seafaring reptiles as well. :roll: I promise you neither of them ever thought about what kind of turtle the TMNT were supposed to be. Seriously.

Course their physical criteria doesn't match any specific type of turtle...they're mutated

[jeff the cheff]

They are teenage mutant ninja's, thats what they are!

[Space Tanuki 9]

Turtles of the Teenage Mutant Ninja variety!
... anyone have a scientific name for Mutant Turtles?

[HorseTechie]

They're a breed of turtles that don't exist in real life since none of their physical criteria matches that of any specefic type of turtle. It's not enough that Eastman and Laird were creative artists and writers... now we expect them to be experts on seafaring reptiles as well. :roll: I promise you neither of them ever thought about what kind of turtle the TMNT were supposed to be. Seriously.

*lol* This is going to be my answer to this question for now on!

I keep on insisting that they were (three toed) box turtles. But then others sya they HAVE to be pond turtles. And so the debate continues. *sai*

[Buslady]

I'm split between red ear sliders and 3 toed boxies.
I love red ears, they are my favorite, (painteds too)...so i like to think of them as that species.
besides they used red ears in the movie flashback!

[Tokka-B]

I'd say that they are mutated turtles....but that's just me. :roll: :roll: