Leatherback Sea Turtle

Dermochelys coriacea

Leatherback Sea Turtle

“ Try to be like the turtle at ease in your own shell. ”

– Bill Copeland

Scientific Taxonomy & Character Information

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Reptilia

Order: Testudines

Suborder: Cryptodira

Superfamily: Chelonioidea

Family: Dermochelyidae

Subfamily: Dermochelyinae

Genus: Dermochelys

Species: Dermochelys coriacea

Descendant: Dermochelyinae

Named by: Domenico Agostino Vandelli

Year Published: 1761

Size: 1.8 – 2.2 m long in length; 4 to 6 feet (130 – 183 cm) tall in height; 250 – 700 kg

Type: Reptiles (Dermochelyidae)

Title: 

Pantheon: Terran/Gaian

Time Period: Miocene to Holocene

Alignment: Skittish

Threat Level: ★★★★★★

Diet: Carnivorous 🐟🦐🦀🪱🪼🍼

Elements: Water

Inflicts: Watered, choked

Casualties: n/a

Based On: itself

Conservation Status: 

Leatherback Sea Turtle or Leatherback Turtle (Dermochelys coriacea), sometimes called the Lute Turtle or Leathery Turtle or simply the Luth, is the largest of all living turtles and is the fourth-heaviest or largest modern reptile in the world behind three crocodilians. It can easily be differentiated from other modern sea turtles by its lack of a bony shell, hence the name like a leather. Instead, its carapace is covered by skin and oily flesh.

Etymology

Both the turtle's common and scientific names come from the leathery texture and appearance of its carapace (Dermochelys coriacea literally translates to "leathery skin-turtle"). Older names include "leathery turtle" and "trunk turtle". The common names incorporating "lute" and "luth" compare the seven ridges that run the length of the animal's back to the seven strings on the musical instrument of the same name.

Physical Appearance

Leatherback turtles have the most hydrodynamic body of any sea turtle, with a large, teardrop-shaped body. A large pair of front flippers powers the turtles through the water. Like other sea turtles, the leatherback has flattened forelimbs adapted for swimming in the open ocean. Claws are absent from both pairs of flippers. The leatherback's flippers are the largest in proportion to its body among extant sea turtles.


The leatherback has several characteristics that distinguish it from other sea turtles. Its most notable feature is the lack of a bony carapace. Instead of scutes, it has thick, leathery skin with embedded minuscule osteoderms. Seven distinct ridges rise from the carapace, crossing from the cranial to caudal margin of the turtle's back. Leatherbacks are unique among reptiles in that their scales lack β-keratin.


The entire turtle's dorsal surface is colored dark grey to black, with a scattering of white blotches and spots. Demonstrating countershading, the turtle's underside is lightly colored. Instead of teeth, the leatherback turtle has points on the tomium of its upper lip, with backwards spines in its throat (esophagus) to help it swallow food and to stop its prey from escaping once caught.

Abilities

The leatherback sea turtle's carapace is specially crafted to endure severe hydrostatic pressures while diving to 1200 meters of depth. The leatherback sea turtle is unique among sea turtles in that it lacks a hard keratinous shell and instead possesses a soft, leathery skin that covers the osteoderms.


The osteoderms feature teeth-like jagged edges formed of bone-like hydroxyapatite/collagen tissue. The interpenetrating sutures that connect these osteoderms give the carapace flexibility and allow for both in-plane and out-of-plane movement between the osteoderms. This is significant because, when breathing in air, the lungs expand, and the carapace contracts when deep diving.


Due to their obligate feeding nature, leatherbacks help control jellyfish populations.

Ecology

The deep-diving leatherback marine turtle lives in tropical, subtropical, and subpolar waters. Leatherbacks travel great distances to and from their breeding places as well as between various feeding areas at various times of the year. The main food sources for leatherbacks are siphonophores, salps, and jellyfish. Females often have a re-migration period of several years (2+) between consecutive reproductive seasons and normally produce several clutches of 60–90 eggs in a reproductive season, ranging from three to ten.


Microecosystems are formed while dead leatherbacks decompose and wash up on beach. When a pair of Black vultures tore up a waterlogged body in 1996, they found sarcophagid and calliphorid flies inside. Scarabaeidae, Carabidae, and Tenebrionidae carrion-eating beetle infestations quickly followed. The corpse was attacked by anthomyiid flies and Histeridae and Staphylinidae beetles after several days of rotting. More than a dozen different families of organisms participated in the carcass's consumption.


The early years of a leatherback turtle's life are filled with predators. A wide range of coastal predators, from small plovers to enormous gulls, may prey on eggs, including ghost crabs, monitor lizards, raccoons, coatis, dogs, coyotes, genets, and mongooses. Baby turtles that are attempting to reach the ocean are preyed upon by many of the same predators, along with frigatebirds and other raptors. Young leatherbacks continue to be preyed upon by cephalopods, requiem sharks, and various huge fish while they are in the ocean. The enormous adults are less vulnerable to significant predators because they lack a hard shell, but they are occasionally overpowered and eaten by very large marine predators like killer whales, great white sharks, and tiger sharks. Jaguars have been known to pounce on nesting females in the American tropical regions.


Once they reach adulthood, leatherback turtles have few natural predators; nonetheless, their early life stages are when they are most at risk of being eaten. Birds, little animals, and other opportunists destroy turtles' nests and eat their eggs. The hatchlings running for the ocean are preyed upon by shorebirds and crustaceans. As soon as they go into the water, they fall victim to hungry fish and cephalopods.

Behavior

Leatherback is friendly to humans, despite their size and slightly fewer human-related threats than other sea turtle species. Although leatherback sea turtles are not typically violent, they will bite if they feel threatened.

Distribution and Habitat

Leatherbacks are distributed circumglobally, with nesting sites on tropical sandy beaches and foraging ranges that extend into temperate and sub-polar latitudes worldwide.


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