What is the biggest turtle in the world? What does it look like?

1. How big is the biggest turtle in the world? What is a turtle? What does it look like? Leatherback turtle

2. leatherback

What is the biggest turtle in the world? What does it look like?

1. How big is the biggest turtle in the world? What is a turtle? What does it look like? Leatherback turtle

2. leatherback turtle, also known as leatherback turtle, is the largest animal among turtles, with a maximum total body length of 3 meters, a shell length of more than 2 meters and a weight of 800-900 kilograms.

3. leatherback turtle is the largest turtle in the world, which is called giant turtle? . Its head, limbs and body are covered with smooth leather skin, and there is no horny shield. The bony shell of the crustacean is inlaid with hundreds of small irregular polygonal bone plates, of which the largest bone plate forms seven regular longitudinal ridges, hence its name, and some people call it leather turtle. These longitudinal edges extend into pointed buttocks at the rear end of the body, and the two longitudinal edges on the side of the body form irregular nail edges. There is no small bone plate embedded in the bone shell of the abdominal nail, which is composed of many small bones firmly embedded in dense tissue, and the central row is split where the umbilical cord passes. Its mouth is hooked and its head is too big to be retracted into the shell. The limbs are paddle-shaped and claw-free, and the phalanges of the forelimbs are particularly long. The back of the adult turtle is dark brown or black, decorated with yellow or white spots, and the abdomen is gray.

4. The scales on leatherback turtle's head are complex and irregular. The bone shell of the carapace is inlaid with polygonal bone plates of different sizes, with 7 regular longitudinal edges. There are five longitudinal edges on the ventral surface. The whole skeleton shell is covered with smooth cortex. There are two large triangular tooth protrusions on the upper jaw. The limbs are paddle-shaped, the forelimbs are particularly developed, and the hind limbs are short. The tail is very short. The back is dark brown with light yellow spots, and the ventral side is lighter in color.

5. leatherback turtle is the largest turtle in the order Tortoise, and there is no one. Leatherback turtle is the largest individual, with a body length of 2.6 meters and a weight of 9 16 kg, which is close to one ton.

Leatherback turtle not only ranks first among turtles in size and weight, but also ranks fourth among all reptiles, and three crocodiles rank first, second and third respectively. The leatherback turtle is much bigger than the Galapagos elephant turtle, and its forelimb wingspan record is 2.7 meters, which is a very exaggerated super turtle.

Speaking of leatherback turtles, you have to give this creepy maw a big mouth!

You can see all the teeth from the mouth to the esophagus. Actually, it's not teeth. leatherback turtles don't have teeth at all. These are just horny thorns. The toothless leatherback turtle eats by sucking, inhaling into its mouth, and then shredding the food by these horniness, which can also prevent jellyfish from escaping quietly.

The ancients called leatherback turtles sea monks? Because their heads are bald, it really conforms to the characteristics of monks.

Although the overall appearance is fierce and domineering, leatherback turtles are actually very docile turtles and will not attack humans. They eat jellyfish. In order to eat enough jellyfish, they cruise around the world every year10.6 million kilometers, leatherback turtles are widely distributed, and the seas around the world are their homes.

The average swimming speed of leatherback turtles in the ocean reaches 35 km/h, so don't underestimate this 35 km/h, which is the highest moving speed of all turtles and even reptiles. It can be said that leatherback turtles are one of the fastest moving reptiles. Their developed forelimbs, slender phalanges and paddle-like limbs make them the fastest turtles! Sail with your arms up? That's it! Of course, the premise is that in the sea and on the beach, believe me, they are almost the slowest reptiles. .......

It is worth mentioning that in a new study on 20 1 1, scientists found that female leatherback turtles can swim thousands of miles in the ocean and keep walking in a straight line, which surprised biologists. How can they swim so straight and so accurately? Nobody knows the answer yet.

However, the nutritional value of jellyfish itself is not high, so leatherback turtles can eat nearly 73% of their own weight in one day! Can sail? Actually, going to Leng Hai is for your favorite food jellyfish.

They used to have few natural enemies in nature.

But in modern times, their natural enemies have appeared. Don't think about it. It's us in front of the computer and the plastic bags we throw away, which is the culprit for murdering them!

Leatherback turtles often eat human garbage plastic bags floating in the ocean by mistake because of their poor eyesight, which is very fatal to them. Plastic bags will get caught in their esophagus, and leatherback turtles who eat plastic by mistake will often die because of esophageal blockage.

type

It takes about 13- 14 years for leatherback turtles to reach sexual maturity, and females nest and lay eggs every 2-3 years 1 time, but recent research shows that they may nest and lay eggs every year. Female turtles lay eggs 4-7 times a season with an interval of about 10 day, and each nest contains about 60- 120 spherical turtle eggs with a diameter of 5-6cm.

In Malay Peninsula and New Guinea, leatherback females lay eggs from May to September, and the incubation period is about 55-70 days. Newborn turtles are 5-6 cm long and weigh about 46 grams. They grow rapidly and can grow to 60 cm after one year of birth. Theoretically, they can grow to 150cm in 3- 15 years.

The change of marine environment, illegal fishing by fishermen and marine pollution make the living conditions of leatherback turtles worse. Some surveys show that the number of leatherback turtles is rapidly declining, and this rare marine species may be eliminated by humans within 20 years.