Marine Species under Threat: Leatherback Turtle

The leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea), also known as lute turtle, is the largest of all living turtles and is the fourth largest modern reptile behind three crocodilians. These reptilian relics are the only remaining representatives of a family of turtles that traces its evolutionary roots back more than 100 million years. It is the only living species in the genus Dermochelys. It can easily be differentiated from other modern sea turtles by its lack of a bony shell. Instead, its carapace is covered by skin and oily flesh. Dermochelys coriacea is the only extant member of the family Dermochelyidae.

Leatherbacks have the widest global distribution of all reptile species, and possibly of any vertebrate. They can be found in the tropic and temperate waters of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, as well as the Mediterranean Sea. Pacific leatherbacks migrate from nesting beaches in the Coral Triangle all the way to the California coast to feed on the abundant jellyfish every summer and fall. Adult leatherbacks also traverse as far north as Canada and Norway and as far south as New Zealand and South America.

The largest leatherback ever found was an 8.5-ft-long (2.6-m-long) male weighing 2,020 lbs (916 kg) that washed up on the west coast of Wales in 1988.

Quick stats about the leatherback sea turtle:

Type: Reptile

Diet: Carnivore

Average life span in the wild: 45 years (est.)

Size: Up to 7 ft (2 m)

Weight: Up to 2,000 lbs (900 kg)

Protection status: Endangered