Leatherback Turtles

Of all of the different species of turtles, the leatherback sea turtle is the largest. While the leatherback is actually a sea turtle, it is easily distinguished from the other sea turtles because it does not have a hard shell. Instead of the carapace that covers the other turtles, the leatherback turtles have only skin and oily flesh. The leatherback sea turtle is the only living member of the Dermochelyidae family.

Like other sea turtles, the leatherback sea turtle is large and has a dorsoventrally flattened body, a large head, a small tail, two front appendages and two hind appendages. None of the appendages have claws and the front limbs have are specifically adapted to swim in the ocean. Of all living families of turtle, the leatherback sea turtle's flippers are the biggest when compared with the size of its body. Leatherback turtles can be told apart from all of the other turtle species by its lack of shell. Instead, the back of the turtle is covered with thick and leathery skin that has been embedded with tiny bony plates. There are several very distinct ridges along its back and the entire dorsal surface of the turtle is dark grey or black and has some white spots. Its underside, however, is very lightly covered. The adult leatherback turtles can grow as long as two meters and weigh between two hundred and fifty and seven hundred kilograms. The largest leatherback found to date was found on a beach in Wales and it was slightly longer than three meters long and weighed more than nine hundred kilograms.

While most large creatures have slow metabolism, the leatherback sea turtle's metabolism is quite fast. It also has counter-current heat exchangers that give the turtle control over its body temperature. Some scientists are trying to find out if the leatherback turtle can make its own body heat. These turtles are also the deepest diving of all of the world's reptiles. The leatherback sea turtle has been known to dive deeper than twelve hundred meters and can travel as fast as almost ten meters a second, making it the fastest reptile on the planet.

The leatherback sea turtle can be found all over the world and they have been known to swim into the Arctic Circle. There are three major populations of leatherback sea turtle: The Atlantic population, the Pacific population and the Indian Ocean population. Not a lot is known about the turtles in the Indian Ocean except for where they nest.

After hatching, the baby leatherback sea turtles make their way to the ocean and are generally not seen again until they are mature. Very few leatherback turtles actually make it to maturity. They mate at sea, and only the females ever venture onto dry land after they hatch and find their way to the water. Females usually lay one hundred and ten eggs in each nest and about eighty five percent of those eggs are viable and hatching takes place between sixty and seventy days after the eggs have been laid.