The
leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea), also known as lute turtle, is
the largest of all living turtles and is the fourth largest modern reptile
behind three crocodilians. These reptilian relics are the only remaining
representatives of a family of turtles that traces its evolutionary roots back
more than 100 million years. It is the only living species in the genus
Dermochelys. It can easily be differentiated from other modern sea turtles by
its lack of a bony shell. Instead, its carapace is covered by skin and oily
flesh. Dermochelys coriacea is the only extant member of the family
Dermochelyidae.
Leatherbacks
have the widest global distribution of all reptile species, and possibly of any
vertebrate. They can be found in the tropic and temperate waters of the
Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, as well as the Mediterranean
Sea . Pacific leatherbacks migrate from nesting beaches in the
Coral Triangle all the way to the California
coast to feed on the abundant jellyfish every summer and fall. Adult
leatherbacks also traverse as far north as Canada
and Norway and as far south
as New Zealand and South America .
The
largest leatherback ever found was an 8.5-ft-long (2.6-m-long) male weighing
2,020 lbs (916 kg) that washed up on the west coast of Wales in 1988.
Quick
stats about the leatherback sea turtle:
Type:
Reptile
Diet:
Carnivore
Average
life span in the wild: 45 years (est.)
Size:
Up to 7 ft (2 m)
Weight:
Up to 2,000 lbs (900 kg)
Protection status: Endangered
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