Soft-shelled turtles tend to live in waterways with soft bottoms. Their flattened, smooth bodies are streamlined to navigate their flowing environment. The unusual smoothness of their shell is thanks to a layer of skin over it rather than hard scales (scutes). The mottled, brown skin may also help them camouflage on stream bottoms. They will even bury themselves in the sand in shallow waters. You are more likely to see a soft-shelled turtle's nose than anything else because it serves as snorkel, sticking out just above the water surface. They also have extra-long necks, which they can whip around quickly to attack aquatic insects or other prey passing by (who, chances are, have not even noticed the buried turtle).

The earliest archaeological evidence of humans eating turtles is at a site in northern Spain that is more than one million years old. In historic time, turtles remained popular as food. Huge lakes in the Central Valley of California were trawled by boats, who supplied the markets of San Francisco with thousands of turtles during the early 1900s. Australian aborigines today eat roasted turtle meat, using their shells as serving dishes. Amazonian tribes harvest river turtles for meat and fat. Farm-raised snapping turtles in the southeastern U.S. are the turtle in turtle soup. Asian cuisine particularly favors turtles. Massive turtle farming operations in China churn out soft-shell turtles for consumption, and turtle meat might grace the table at a traditional wedding. Besides their value as food, turtles are exploited heavily for the pet trade, and in Central America their eggs fetch a high price for their supposed aphrodisiac properties.