Joe Mendelson, adjunct professor in the School of Biological Sciences and director of research at Zoo Atlanta, writes about a study currently underway at the zoo on play behavior in diamondback terrapins. Play behavior is exactly the way someone would interpret it as a human — something that’s fun and silly and sometimes is for a purpose, and sometimes the purpose seems to be simply fun. Students from Georgia Tech and Georgia State University are helping Mendelson in making these observations, and they're hoping to make the case soon that they've documented purposeless play behavior in a turtle.