Meet some of the Larger Turtles

The Leatherback Turtle (Demochelys coriacea)

photo courtesy of library.thinkquest.org

It is the largest of all the sea turtles, between 4 to 8 feet long, and weighs between 500 and 2000 lbs. It has a smooth, leathery, flexible carapace (shell), and is the only sea turtle with no scutes (scales). It is the only one of the species that has longitudinal ridges down the carapace. The shell is black with gray, white or pink spots. These animals have the furthest migration route of all the sea turtles, traveling about 10000 miles a year from Asia to the West Coast of the USA. The Leatherbacks are currently listed as critical endangered, and are at risk to be extinct in the next 20 years.

photo courtesy of virginiaherpetological society.com

Green Turtle (Chelonia mydas)

photo courtesy of conserveturtles.org

It is the largest of the hard shelled sea turtles, reaching a length up to 4 feet and weighing up to 500 lbs.Their carapace is olive brown to almost black and has 4 pairs of scutes (scales). It also travels thousands of miles in search for food. It is currently listed as endangered.

The Loggerhead Turtle (Caretta caretta)
it is named for its massive head and jaws, grows up to 4 feet long and weighs between 200 to 400 lbs. It is reddish brown with a slightly heart shaped carapace. More detail about this turtle can be found through out this blog site.





The Flatback Turtle(Natator depressus)

courtesy of marinebio.org

courtesy of seeturtles.org

Got it's name for it's flat carapace, which is colored pale, grayish green. It has 4 pair of scutes in it's shell, and the edges of the carapace are distinctly up turned. It grows up to 3 feet long and weighs up to 200 lbs. They are only found around Northern Australia and Southern Indonesia.

The photo on the left shows the carapace with the scales, typical for the Flatback sea turtles.

Most of this information was obtained from http:www.seeturtles.org/1893/sea-turtle-identification.htlm
seeturtles.org/