Giant sea turtle (lat. Dermochelys coriacea) is otherwise called leathery for obvious reasons. The shell of this turtle is not covered with horny plates, which are common for turtles, but with thick skin.
The unique structure of the tortoise shell (pseudocarapace) facilitates its movement in the aquatic environment, but at the same time serves as a means of effective protection. The habitats of the leatherback turtle are all oceans, with the exception, of course, of the Arctic. The leatherback turtle also lives in the Mediterranean Sea, but it is extremely rare to meet it there.
The leatherback turtle is today the heaviest reptile. The average weight of an adult individual fluctuates around four hundred kilograms. In rare cases, the mass can reach one ton.
In the water, the leatherback turtle moves with all four limbs, but uses them differently. The front flippers are the main engine, the rear ones act as steering. Leatherback turtles are good divers. Fleeing from predators, the leatherback turtle is able to dive to a kilometer depth. The movements of the leatherback turtle in its native element are truly graceful. Slow and clumsy on land, the leatherback turtle transforms unrecognizably in the water.
Leatherback turtles are solitary and do not live in herds. Therefore, it is difficult to detect them. Their way of life is secrecy.
Despite their gigantic size, the adult leatherback turtle can be very fast in the aquatic environment, and does not always retreat when threatened. The tortoise, defending itself, can also fight. The animal defends itself with the help of strong front paws, and powerful jaws can easily break a thick wooden stick.
Egg laying in leatherback turtles occurs three to four times a year. The female tears off something like a well about a meter deep in the sand and lays up to a hundred eggs the size of a tennis ball. After laying eggs, the female fills the hole with sand.
It is difficult to excavate a meter layer of sand. Therefore, the ability of newborn turtles to independently get out from under it is amazing.
The leatherback turtle is the largest of its kind. It is of great interest to all nature lovers.
It differs from its closest relatives not only in size but also in the structure of the shell - it is made up of bone plates covered with thick skin.
Habitat
She is one of the few reptiles that lives almost all over the world.
Habitat
The giant tortoise lives in warm waters, and the largest population of these tortoises is concentrated in the southern part of the Kuril Islands.
Species of sea leatherback turtles are found in the Bering Sea, in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, on the coasts of Australia and Nova Scotia. Due to their unique ability to maintain body temperature above water temperature, rough-skinned turtles can travel to the coasts of Norway and Alaska.
Appearance
The turtle has a dark color from brown to black-brown. Baby leatherback turtles are distinguished by yellow markings on their back and limbs, which fade with time.
The shell is movable and not attached to the body. It is heart shaped with a wide top and tapered back. 7 ridges pass along the back, 5 more are on the belly. They perform 2 functions - they allow you to confidently maneuver in the water column and serve as protection against enemy attacks. It has a body length of about 1.5-2 meters with an average weight of 500-600 kilograms.
Tortoise forelimb span reaches 3 meters. These are work fins. The hind limbs are less developed and work as a kind of steering wheel. Due to the large size of the head, it is impossible to hide it in the shell in case of danger.
Lifestyle
During the day, the turtle spends time on the sea floor. She dives to a depth of 1000 meters in search of food. The diet of a large reptile is mainly jellyfish, but algae, crustaceans, and small fish often become its prey. The turtle bites its prey and swallows it.
At night, the reptile stays on the surface of the water. These species of leatherback turtles prefer to lead a solitary life, they do not stray in flocks and make long journeys alone. Despite its huge size, it develops an impressive speed - up to 30 km / h. On land, they move much more slowly and clumsily, so only females leave the water area and exclusively for laying eggs.
reproduction
The leatherback turtle is ready to breed at the age of 20. The male and female mate in the water, and the female lays her eggs in the coastal zone. She buries the clutch, in which from 50 to 150 eggs, into the sand to a depth of more than one meter, carefully falls asleep and levels the place.
In one season, the female makes 4-6 clutches. The incubation period lasts 2 months. Then the pups of the Pacific leatherback turtle get out of the shelter, and, obeying the natural instinct, head for the water.
Enemies
The most dangerous is the first day of the life of small turtles. Predatory, lizards and animals know when the time comes for a new generation to come out and lie in wait for it on the shore.
Only a few manage to escape, there are times when the entire masonry died without reaching the water. If the baby leatherback turtle was able to get to the reservoir, it begins a measured life.
The main enemy of adult reptiles is man. Pollution of water bodies, illegal catching of reptiles and the development of the tourism business have significantly affected the number of this species. Often the reptile takes garbage and plastic for food, nutrition is disturbed and the individual dies.
Lifespan
The reptile lives up to 50 years. In captivity, it was not possible to create acceptable conditions for the reproduction and growth of the reptile.
- The turtle is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the fastest species of reptile - the maximum speed of its movement under water was recorded, which was 35.28 kilometers per hour. The animal remained under water for 70 minutes.
- The leatherback turtle is listed in the Red Book and is protected by environmental organizations. Over the past century, the number of individuals worldwide has decreased by 97%.
- The deepest dive was made by a giant leatherback turtle at 1280 meters.
These turtles inhabit the tropical and subtropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, and the Atlantic Ocean.
Appearance
Body length 2 - 3 meters, the span of the forelimbs is equal to the length of the body, weight 300 - 900 kg. This is the largest sea in the world. Its shell is flattened, consists of interconnected many small bone plates, and it is covered with a thick layer of skin. There are 7 long longitudinal ridges on the back. There are also ridges on the abdomen, but there are fewer of them - 5.
The head is large, not retracted into the shell. The eyes are large, vision is good. There are 2 teeth on the top of the beak on each side. The front flippers are much larger than the rear ones. The top of the turtle is painted black or gray-blue, the bottom is gray. Some have light spots scattered all over their bodies.
Lifestyle. Nutrition
The leatherback turtle spends its entire life in the water. Only females come to land to continue the genus. This amazing giant swims at a speed of 30 km / h, emerging every five minutes to breathe air. At rest, it can stay under water for several hours. On land, the reptile is clumsy and vulnerable, while in the water it is an excellent swimmer. A day can swim 20 - 30 km. During the day it sinks into the depths, at night it stays on the surface of the water.
The turtle mainly feeds on jellyfish. Also consumes molluscs, crustaceans, cephalopods. Sometimes eats seaweed. She bites prey with her beak and swallows it. To get your own food, you have to dive deep enough, more than 1000 meters.
reproduction
Every two years the female swims to the shore. Having got out on land at night, she digs a hole with flippers, one meter deep and lays 50 - 150 eggs. Then, having carefully buried and leveled the surface of the sand, it goes into the sea. Ten days later, she again goes to land and makes a new masonry. During the season, the female lays 4 - 6 clutches. The hot sun warms the sand, which is good for the development of hidden eggs.
After 2 months, turtles appear, which get out of the sand and rush into the water. Unfortunately, not everyone will get there, too many predators have gathered, they know about the mass exit of these babies and are waiting for the feast. These are lizards, and other predators. Having reached the treasured water, the turtles begin a long and difficult life journey.
There are also many enemies in the aquatic environment and many will die, only a few will survive - strong, persistent lucky ones. At first, the babies feed on plankton, and stay in the upper warm layers of the water. Then they catch jellyfish. At the age of one year, the turtle is 20 cm long. Offspring will be able to bear reaching the 20th.
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sea leatherback turtle
The leatherback turtle is the largest of all turtles on our planet. It lives in the seas and oceans, with the exception of the cold waters of the Arctic and Antarctic. This reptile swims many thousands of miles to the place of laying eggs. According to zoologists, in these wanderings, the Earth's magnetic field serves as a guide for her.
Like all sea turtles, the leatherback turtle is quite edible, and its eggs are valued in some countries as a strong aphrodisiac. Many turtles die entangled in fishing nets or poisoned by poisonous chemicals; others die a painful death by swallowing a plastic bag mistaken for a jellyfish. The development of tourism and the development of beaches deprive these animals of their usual places for laying eggs, and the artificial lighting of beaches confuses adult reptiles and newborn turtles. Attracted by the light of the spotlights, they wander aimlessly along the beach until they die of exhaustion. The leatherback turtle is an endangered species and is under protection. For the sake of her salvation, scientists protect turtle nests, and some of the offspring are even bred in incubators.
The leatherback turtle leads a solitary lifestyle, but sometimes whole groups of reptiles have to be observed in open water. Turtles stay on the surface of the water, and only from time to time dive into the depths. Reptiles swim, vigorously rowing with huge front flippers, and the rudder is widely spaced hind legs. With the onset of dawn, the animals dive deep for prey, and at night they stay closer to the surface. In the season of laying eggs, leatherback turtles come out on land in droves, not paying attention to their neighbors on the beach, and only when they collide do they irritably beat each other on the shell with flippers.
The turtle's diet consists of plant and animal foods, but the basis of the diet of this reptile is made up of soft-bodied jellyfish, which are easy to tear into pieces. In order to get enough, the leatherback turtle eats about fifty large jellyfish every day, spending about 10 hours hunting. Thanks to such a diet, a reptile receives 8-10 kg of protein and about 200 liters of water every day with food. The poison of jellyfish is not terrible for a leatherback turtle, and with the help of special glands, excess salt is removed from the body. The glands produce abundant mucus, and that, flowing out, washes the eyes of the animal and at the same time removes salt.
Each female has a pink spot on the top of her head, the shape of which is strictly individual for each animal and makes it possible to identify one or another individual. The cause of these spots is unknown. According to one hypothesis, they are traces of blows inflicted by males during mating, according to another, they are external manifestations of hormonal reactions.
A thick layer of fat protects the leatherback turtle from hypothermia in sea water.
Related species
The leatherback turtle is the only representative in the family. This reptile is closely related to other species of sea turtles, perfectly adapted to life in the water. Their forelimbs became paddle-like flippers, and their carapace became streamlined. Sea turtles do not retract their heads under their shells. The females of these reptiles lay huge amounts of eggs.
The Australian green turtle (Chelonia depressa) is found only off the coast of Australia. Reaches a length of 72 to 100 cm with a weight of about 70 kg. Its smooth, very flat carapace is oval and olive in color with a yellow-brown border around the edges. This carnivorous turtle is critically endangered.
Title (rus):
leathery
Name (lat):
Dermochelys coriacea
Title (eng):
Atlantic Leatherback Turtle
Suborder: (Cryptodira) Secret-necked turtles
Genus: (Dermochelys) Leathery
Subspecies:
Dermochelys coriacea coriacea
Dermochelys coriacea schlegeli (Pacific Leatherback Turtle)
Description: Carapace length up to 244 cm. Weight up to 867-960 kg. Huge flat front flippers in a transverse span reach 3 m. There are no claws on the flippers. The heart-shaped carapace is strongly narrowed behind and bears 7 sharp longitudinal ridges on the dorsal side and 5 on the ventral side. The head is very large, rounded, and cannot be retracted under the shell. On the upper jaw, one large and sharp tooth on each side. The head, neck and legs of the young are partly covered with scutes, but in the old ones the scutes (except for a few on the head) disappear; horny edge of the upper jaw with 3 triangular notches; forelegs twice as long as hind legs. The coloration is dark brown above, almost black with yellowish edges. Males differ from females in a more sharply narrowed carapace at the back and a longer tail.
Dermochelys coriacea coriacea - Distinguished by long forelimbs compared to body length, a short, dark-colored head, and few dark spots on the lower jaws, throat, and back.
Dermochelys coriacea schlegeli - The subspecies has shorter forelimbs, a long light-colored head and a large number of spots on the lower jaws, throat and back.
Habitat: Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans from Labrador, Iceland, the British Isles, Norway, Alaska and Japan south to Argentina, Chile, Australia and the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa. It also enters the Mediterranean Sea. Pelagic view. In our waters, she appeared twice - in the very south of the Far East and in the Bering Sea. In the water element, the leatherback turtle is unusually mobile, swimming with great speed and maneuverability. The leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) is active for 24 hours during all periods of life.
Food: The basis of the diet is scyphomedusae, siphonophores and pelagic tunicates (salps and appendiculars). At the same time, the turtle on such a diet manages not only to grow and carry out metabolic processes, but also to accumulate a thick layer of fat and maintain a more or less constant body temperature above the temperature of the water.
Although young fish, crustaceans (amphipods, crabs) were found in the digestive tract of leatherback turtles, it is believed that most of them were swallowed by accident along with jellyfish. The jaws of the leatherback turtle are adapted for eating soft-bodied pelagic invertebrates: relatively light, with sharp cutting edges, in contrast, for example, to the massive crushing jaws of mollusk and crustacean eaters - hawksbill and loggerhead.
The keratinized papillae in the esophagus and pharynx did the leatherback turtle a disservice. Mistaking discarded plastic bags for jellyfish, the turtle tries to eat them. And what gets into her throat can go further in only one direction - to the stomach. As a result, the stomach is clogged with packets.
Reproduction: Egg-laying at the leatherback turtle in Ceylon occurs in May - June, along the shores of the Caribbean Sea - from May to August. Also, nesting occurs on the Pacific coast of Mexico, on the coast of Guiana, the state of Terengganu in West Malaysia, the islands of Indonesia and the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.
The female crawls ashore after sunset and finds a place for a nest above the high tide line. Here she digs a deep hole with her hind legs, up to a meter deep, and lays there from 30 to 130 (on average 85) white, almost spherical eggs with a leathery shell, 5-6 cm in diameter. Having laid the eggs, the turtle buries them and carefully compacts the sand. Its nest is so deep and the sand is so compacted that the masonry is practically inaccessible to predators, who easily dig out the nests of the green turtle or hawksbill. Lays eggs every 2-3 years, 6-9 nests per season at intervals of 9-10 days. Interestingly, each clutch contains about 80 fertilized and 30 unfertilized eggs. The incubation period is 65 days (2 months).
Additionally: View discovered by VANDELLI, 1761.
Leatherback turtle meat is quite edible and tasty, although rare cases of poisoning by it are known.
In case of danger, it vigorously defends itself, striking with powerful flippers and using sharp jaws. When injured, the tortoise usually lets out a loud cry, described as a roar, moan, or low.
The shell and skin of the tortoise are abundantly saturated with fat. It is rendered and used to grease seams in boats and for other purposes. This property of the turtle creates inconvenience when storing museum specimens - fat can ooze out of them for years if the shell and skin have not undergone special treatment.
The leatherback turtle is mesothermic, being neither truly warm-blooded nor truly cold-blooded. Also mesothermic animals include: extinct dinosaurs, great white shark, tuna, echidna. Like mammals and birds, mesothermic animals can generate their own heat, but they cannot maintain a constant body temperature, which brings them closer to modern reptiles. Body size can influence the appearance of mesothermia: large animals are easier to keep warm, and therefore, for example, a large leatherback turtle can afford to be mesothermic, while a smaller green turtle is a common cold-blooded reptile.
