Leatherback Turtle (Dermochelys coriacea)
Order: Testudines, Family: Dermochelyidae
The largest of all reptiles, the leatherback sea turtle may reach 7 feet in length and weigh as much as 1,400 pounds. It measures 9 feet from the tip of one flipper to the tip of the other. Leatherbacks are the only turtles to have a thick layer of fat for insulation. They also have no visible shell. The shell is present but consists of bones buried into the turtle's dark brown or black skin. The leatherback has seven pronounced ridges in its back and five on the underside.
I. DESCRIPTION:
- The largest of all reptiles, the leatherback sea turtle may reach 7 feet in length and weigh as much as 1,400 pounds. It measures 9 feet from the tip of one flipper to the tip of the other. Leatherbacks are the only turtles to have a thick layer of fat for insulation. They also have no visible shell. The shell is present but consists of bones buried into the turtle's dark brown or black skin. The leatherback has seven pronounced ridges in its back and five on the underside.
II. GEOGRAPHIC RANGE AND HABITAT:
- The leatherback turtle has the biggest geographic range of any reptile. It can be found in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. It prefers cool northern and southern waters.
III. DIET:
- Omnivorous, leatherbacks eat grasses and small animals that they find near the ocean floor and in large marine grass beds. However, they primarily feed on jellyfish.
- Their bodies are able to convert salt water to fresh water, excreting the salt.
IV. LIFE CYCLE/SOCIAL STRUCTURE:
- Leatherbacks, like many other turtles, reproduce on land. Although they spend most of their lives in the open ocean, they come out of the water during the breeding season. Females generally only leave the water at this time to dig a nest and deposit their eggs.
- They rarely stop swimming (even while sleeping), and average 28 to 40 miles per day.
V. SPECIAL NOTES/ADAPTATIONS:
- The leatherback is the most endangered species of sea turtle. In the last decade, the leatherback population in the Pacific Ocean has declined 95 percent, from 80,000 nesting females to 3,000.
- Loss of nesting sites, egg poaching, fishing and pollution all threaten the leatherback's survival.
- The growing prevalence of plastic debris in the world's oceans is also endangering the leatherback. Every day, leatherbacks consume about twice their weight in discarded plastic items, such as sandwich bags. They mistake the plastic for jellyfish, their primary food source.
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