Linda Busbridge, age 11, of Scarboro, Ontario, Canada, for her question:

How did the map turtle set its name?

Many of the timid little turtles are marked with pretty patterns and colorful patches. The shells of painted turtles are bordered with neat reds or yellows and the flat undershell may be a plain yellow or a blotchy pattern of merry colors. The map turtle wears a streaky pattern of pale yellow lines. His undershell may be plain yellow. But the lines on his back look somewhat like the shaded regions on a map that indicate the ups and downs of geography. Similar markings are more vivid on his head, his tail and sometimes even on his flippers.

Several types of map turtle are common in the streams of the eastern United States. They love to bask in the sun but they are very shy and tend to dive into the water if you approach then. Perhaps they have good reason to be timid, for many people catch and eat them. They report that the false map turtle tastes even better than the map turtle. Both types grow nine to 12 inches long. But the geographical designs on the false map turtle are dimmer and less noticeable.