Leatherback sea turtle
| Leatherback sea turtle | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Sauropsida |
| Order: | Testudines |
| Suborder: | Cryptodira |
| Superfamily: | Chelonioidea |
| Family: | Dermochelyidae |
| Genus: | Dermochelys Blainville, 1816 |
| Species: | D. coriacea |
| Binomial name | |
| Dermochelys coriacea (Vandelli, 1761) |
|
The leatherback sea turtle is the largest of all living sea turtles. It is the fourth largest modern reptile behind three crocodilians.[1][2].
Adults average 1–1.75 metres (3.3–5.74 ft) in shell length, 1.83–2.2 metres (6.0–7.2 ft) in total length and weigh 250 to 700 kilograms (550 to 1,500 lb).[3][4] The largest ever found was over 3 metres (9.8 ft) from head to tail and weighed 916 kilograms (2,020 lb).[5] It was found on a beach on the west coast of Wales.[6]
Leatherback turtles are one of the deepest diving marine animals. They have been recorded diving to depths as great as 1,280 metres (4,200 ft).[7]
They are also the fastest-moving reptiles. The 1992 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records lists the leatherback turtle moving at 35.28 kilometres per hour (21.92 mph) in the water.[8][9] Usually, they swim at 0.5–2.8 metres per second (1.1–6.3 mph).[10]
They can live as far north as Alaska and Norway and as far south as the Cape of Good Hope in Africa and the southernmost tip of New Zealand.[3] The leatherback is found in all tropical and subtropical oceans, and it also goes well into the Arctic Circle.[11]
Very little is known about how long they live. Some reports say "30 years or more"[12] while others say "50 years or more".[13]
The United States listed it as an endangered species on 2 June 1970.[14]
References [change]
- ↑ "WWF - Leatherback turtle". Marine Turtles. World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). 16 February 2007. http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/what_we_do/species/about_species/species_factsheets/marine_turtles/leatherback_turtle/index.cfm. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
- ↑ "The Leatherback Turtle (Dermochelys coriacea)". turtles.org. 24 January 2004. http://www.turtles.org/leatherd.htm. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Species Fact Sheet: Leatherback Sea Turtle". Caribbean Conservation Corporation & Sea Turtle Survival League. Caribbean Conservation Corporation. 29 December 2005. http://www.conserveturtles.org/information.php?page=leatherback. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
- ↑ Wood, Gerald (1983). The Guinness Book of Animal Facts and Feats. ISBN 978-0-85112-235-9.
- ↑ Eckert, K.L. and Luginbuhl, C. (1988). "Death of a Giant". Marine Turtle Newsletter 43: 2–3.
- ↑ Mystery of Wales turtle 'solved', BBC News, August 23, 2004, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/3588974.stm, retrieved 19 June 2012
- ↑ Doyle, T.K., Houghton, J.D.R., O'Súilleabháin, P.F., Hobson, V.J., Marnell, F., Davenport, J. and Hays, G.C. (2008). "Leatherback Turtles Satellite Tagged in European Waters". Endangered Species Research 4: 23–31. doi:10.3354/esr00076.
- ↑ Shweky, Rachel (1999). "Speed of a Turtle or Tortoise". The Physics Factbook. http://hypertextbook.com/facts/1999/RachelShweky.shtml. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
- ↑ McFarlan, Donald (1991). Guinness Book of Records 1992. New York: Guinness.
- ↑ Swim speed and movement patterns of gravid leatherback sea turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) at St Croix, US Virgin Islands, Scott A. Eckert, The Journal of Experimental Biology 205, 3689-3697 (2002)
- ↑ Willgohs, J. F. (1957). "Occurrence of the Leathery Turtle in the Northern North Sea and off Western Norway" (PDF). Nature 179 (4551): 163–164. doi:10.1038/179163a0. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v179/n4551/pdf/179163a0.pdf. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
- ↑ Dermochelys coriacea. "Dermochelys coriacea". http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/6494/0. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
- ↑ Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. "LEATHERBACK SEA TURTLE". http://www.ct.gov/dep/cwp/view.asp?A=2723&Q=326028. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
- ↑ "The Leatherback Turtle (Dermochelys coriacea)". The Oceanic Resource Foundation. 2005. http://www.orf.org/turtles_leatherback.htm. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
