The eastern box turtle is celebrating 30 years as the most highly honored reptile in the Great Smoky Mountains. Here's how it won that status.

Eastern box turtles thrive at this Benton Harbor nature center with its diverse habitats. Researchers hope to find out why.

Box turtles also have a hinged plastron (bottom shell) that allows them to close up shop in the front and rear, creating a “box” that protects their entire body from predators. Formerly, the eastern ...

I want to look at the land-based turtle, the Eastern Box Turtle. The box turtle has a high-domed upper shell called the carapace. It is often highly ornamented with a different pattern, often in a ...

Stoick the turtle is just happy to be alive. Named after the character in the popular kids' movie "How to Train Your Dragon," ...

The Eastern box turtle, affectionately called the "Lego Turtle" by the Maryland Zoo, was brought in during July 2018 with "multiple fractures on his plastron, the bottom part of his shell," Dr ...

The wild turtle was found in a local park with a broken shell by a Maryland Zoo employee Kelli Bender is the Pets Editor at PEOPLE. She has been working at PEOPLE since 2013. Her work has ...