Leatherback Turtles
Facts:
- It is the largest of all sea turtles.
- It has no hard bony shell, unlike other sea turtles, and thus the name "leatherback". The plates at the back of the body are embedded under the leather.
- It has 4 times the metabolism as compared to other reptiles of its size.
- It can swim actively in cold waters, at a temperature as cold as 4.5 degree Celsius, which is very unusual for a reptile.
- It is the fastest reptile in record. In the Guiness Book of World Records in 1992, it has achieved the speed of 9.8 meters per second (35.28 kilometers / 21.92 miles per hour) in the water.
- Leatherbacks are also the reptile world's deepest-divers. Individuals have been discovered to be able to descend deeper than 1,200 meters (3,937 feet).
- The largest ever found however was over three meters from head to tail and weighed 916 kilograms.
- The Leatherback's flippers are the largest in proportion to its body among the extant sea turtles. Leatherback's front flippers can grow up to 2.7 meters in large specimens, the largest flippers (even in comparison to its body) of any sea turtle.
- They are under the Critically Endangered category.
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