---
title: "What the sources say about the Leatherback Sea Turtle | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "57 claims from the Leatherback Sea Turtle profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
image: "https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/leatherback-sea-turtle-1.webp"
canonical: "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/leatherback-sea-turtle/sources/"
---

# What the sources say about the Leatherback Sea Turtle (*Dermochelys coriacea*)

> 57 claims from the Leatherback Sea Turtle profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [Leatherback Sea Turtle](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/leatherback-sea-turtle/)

## Leatherback Turtle. NOAA Fisheries.

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/leatherback-turtle

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| The Biggest Turtle Alive | The leatherback sea turtle is the largest turtle in the world. (note: section heading) |
| NOAA Fisheries puts an adult at 750 to 1,000 pounds (about 340 to 450 kilograms) and 5 to 6 feet (1.5 to 1.8 meters) long | Weight
Adult: 750 to 1,000 pounds
Length
Adult: 5 to 6 feet (note: 340-454 kg and 1.52-1.83 m are conversions of 750-1,000 lb and 5-6 ft) |
| NOAA calls the lifespan unknown but estimates 50 years or more | Lifespan
Unknown, but estimated to be 50 years or more |
| It is also the only sea turtle without scales or a hard shell | They are the only species of sea turtle that lack scales and a hard shell. |
| Its back is built from small, interlocking bony plates called osteoderms, sitting beneath tough, rubbery black skin and running in seven ridges | The leatherback has a primarily black, rubbery skin with pinkish-white coloring on its underside. ... Their shell (carapace) consists of small, interlocking dermal bones beneath the skin ... Their carapace has seven ridges along its length (note: leatherback-2015 names the plates osteoderms; 'tough' is NOAA's 'tough rubbery skin') |
| NOAA reports that leatherbacks can dive to nearly 4,000 feet (about 1,200 meters), deeper than any other turtle, and stay down for up to 85 minutes | Leatherbacks are strong swimmers and can dive to depths of approximately 4,000 feet—deeper than any other turtle—and can stay down for up to 85 minutes. (note: 'nearly' is NOAA's own word elsewhere on the page ('the deepest recorded dive reaching nearly 4,000 feet'); 1,219 m is the conversion) |
| Leatherbacks eat soft-bodied open-ocean prey such as jellyfish and salps | a diet of soft-bodied open ocean prey such as jellyfish and salps |
| A leatherback may swallow floating balloons and plastic bags, mistaking them for food | Leatherback turtles may ingest fishing line, balloons, plastic bags, plastic fragments, floating tar or oil, and other materials discarded by humans which they can mistake for food. |
| Leatherbacks make the longest migrations of any sea turtle | Leatherback sea turtles undertake the longest migrations between breeding and feeding areas of any sea turtle |
| some swimming more than 10,000 miles (16,000 kilometers) a year between feeding grounds and nesting beaches | Leatherbacks are highly migratory, some swimming over 10,000 miles a year between nesting and foraging grounds. (note: 16,093 km is the conversion) |
| nesting beaches that lie mainly in the tropics and subtropics | with nesting mainly on tropical or subtropical beaches |
| The leatherback is listed as endangered under the US Endangered Species Act | The leatherback sea turtle is listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. |
| NOAA estimates the global population has fallen 40 percent over the past three generations | It is estimated that the global population has declined 40 percent over the past three generations. |
| Open ocean worldwide, from mostly tropical nesting beaches to cold sub-polar waters short of the Arctic and Antarctic | Once prevalent in every ocean except the Arctic and Antarctic, the leatherback population is rapidly declining (note: stats.habitat; 'mostly tropical' is NOAA's 'Nesting beaches are primarily located in tropical latitudes'; sub-polar is the biology-2025 foraging claim) |
| Soft-bodied gelatinous prey such as jellyfish and salps | a diet of soft-bodied open ocean prey such as jellyfish and salps (note: stats.diet) |
| The only sea turtle with no hard shell | They are the only species of sea turtle that lack scales and a hard shell. (note: tagline) |
| NOAA Fisheries lists it as endangered | The leatherback sea turtle is listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. |
| its Pacific populations are the most at risk of extinction | The Pacific leatherback turtle populations are most at-risk for extinction |
| Western Pacific leatherbacks have declined more than 80 percent and Eastern Pacific leatherbacks more than 97 percent in recent decades | Pacific leatherback populations have plummeted in recent decades—Western Pacific leatherbacks have declined more than 80 percent and Eastern Pacific leatherbacks have declined by more than 97 percent |
| Hunting of the turtles, egg harvest and bycatch in fishing gear are the primary causes of those Pacific declines | Extensive turtle and egg harvest and bycatch in fishing gear are the primary causes of these declines. |
| weightKg: 400 | Adult: 750 to 1,000 pounds (note: task #770: 340 to 454 kg, Heavy class either way) |
| can swim more than 10,000 miles a year between nesting beaches and feeding grounds | some swimming over 10,000 miles a year between nesting and foraging grounds. (note: vibe.reason, task #770) |

## Dermochelys coriacea (leatherback sea turtle). Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.

https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Dermochelys_coriacea/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Their range stretches from Newfoundland and Norway to Argentina and South Africa | They live in Northern Atlantic waters as far north as Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and Labrador. They also inhabit South Atlantic Waters, as far south as Argentina and South Africa. This turtle inhabits waters as far east as Britain and Norway. |

## Wallace, Tiwari & Girondot (2013). Dermochelys coriacea. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013: e.T6494A43526147.

https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2013-2.rlts.t6494a43526147.en

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| rated Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List | IUCN Red List category: Vulnerable (VU). |

## McClain et al. (2015). Sizing ocean giants: patterns of intraspecific size variation in marine megafauna. PeerJ.

https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.715

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| is the largest of all sea turtles and the fourth largest living reptile on Earth | Dermochelys coriacea is the largest of all sea turtles and the fourth largest living reptile. |
| was weighed at 916 kilograms in 1988 | The largest known leatherback by mass is 916 kg. ... mass was measured at the time the turtle was originally stranded in 1988 |
| though a 2015 review argues that weight is probably inaccurate | More likely, however, the mass estimate for the Harlech turtle is simply inaccurate. (note: 2015 is the paper's publication year, from its citation) |
| A 2015 review of ocean giants explains how. | The large size of this species allows for a low surface area to volume ratio to minimize heat loss (note: 2015 is the paper's publication year; introduces the mechanism claimed next) |
| Sheer bulk gives the turtle a low surface-area-to-volume ratio that slows heat loss and leaves room for a thick layer of blubber under its skin | The large size of this species allows for a low surface area to volume ratio to minimize heat loss, as well as room for extensive blubber under a leathery skin |
| Its blood vessels also work as heat exchangers that raise its internal temperature further | This is also combined with circulatory counter-current heat exchangers that increase internal temperatures further |
| Researchers suggested a name for staying warm like this despite a low metabolic rate: gigantothermy | D. coriacea are able to maintain elevated body temperatures in cold waters despite having a low metabolic rate, for which the term gigantothermy was suggested (Paladino, O'Connor & Spotila, 1990) |
| Gigantothermy heat retention, and backward-pointing throat spines that help hold prey | for which the term gigantothermy was suggested (Paladino, O'Connor & Spotila, 1990) (note: stats.superpower; the spine half is the NOAA 'help retain gelatinous prey' claim) |
| and big enough to keep its core warm in near-freezing seas | Their large size allows them to possess some characteristics of endothermy, enabling the maintenance of high core body temperatures in cold waters (note: tagline; near-freezing is the 0.4 °C claim) |
| Leatherbacks spend time diving in water as cold as 0.4 degrees Celsius | spends time in waters as cold as 0.4 °C while diving |
| barely above the point where fresh water freezes | spends time in waters as cold as 0.4 °C while diving (note: fresh water freezes at 0 °C; a unit fact, not a source claim) |
| A 2015 review of ocean giants says their large size gives them some of the traits of warm-blooded animals, keeping their core temperature high in cold seas | Their large size allows them to possess some characteristics of endothermy, enabling the maintenance of high core body temperatures in cold waters (note: 2015 is the paper's publication year; 'warm-blooded' glosses endothermy) |
| they are the only sea turtle commonly found in cold waters | is the only sea turtle commonly found in cold waters |

## Piboon et al. (2025). Biology, Nesting Behavior, Genetic Diversity, and Conservation of Leatherback Sea Turtles: Insights From Thailand and Global Perspectives. Ecology and Evolution.

https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71014

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| a 2025 review gives an average adult shell length of 130 to 190 centimeters | Body length, curved carapace length (CCL) averages around 130–190 cm for adults (note: 2025 is the paper's publication year, from its citation) |
| The heaviest on record, a dead male stranded on a Welsh beach | The largest leatherback turtle recorded was a dead stranded male on Harlech beach in Gwynedd, Wales, with a weight of 916 kg |
| a DNA-based method reported in a 2025 review estimates up to 90 years, longer than the 50 to 60 years of other sea turtle species | Based on gene promoter CpG methylation density, leatherback turtles are estimated to live up to 90 years, longer than other sea turtle species that live about 50–60 years (note: 2025 is the review's publication year; the estimate is Mayne et al. 2020, which the review cites) |
| No other sea turtle can keep its body warmer than the surrounding water | Leatherbacks are unique among sea turtles for their ability to maintain a body temperature higher than that of the surrounding water |
| that lets it forage in the cold waters of the North Atlantic, the North Pacific and the Southern Ocean | This allows them to forage in colder waters, including those of temperate and subpolar regions in the North Atlantic, North Pacific, and Southern Oceans |
| Backward-pointing throat spikes | the many backward‐pointing spines in the throat and esophagus, called keratinous papillae |
| These spines, called keratinous papillae, line the throat and esophagus and help hold jellyfish in place while the turtle pushes swallowed seawater back out | the many backward‐pointing spines in the throat and esophagus, called keratinous papillae ... adapted for a diet of soft‐bodied invertebrates such as jellyfish and other cnidarians to help retain the prey during the expulsion of seawater |
| a 2025 review says they consume about 73 percent of their own body weight a day | Leatherback turtles consume about 73% of their weight daily (note: 2025 is the review's publication year; it cites Paladino and Morreale 2001) |
| Nesting females typically weigh 275 to 560 kilograms | with weights between 275 and 560 kg for typical laying egg females |
| the heaviest leatherback on record was a male, found dead on Harlech beach in Wales and weighed at 916 kilograms | The largest leatherback turtle recorded was a dead stranded male on Harlech beach in Gwynedd, Wales, with a weight of 916 kg |
| There is little information on males, because they live entirely at sea and never return to nesting beaches | There is limited information on males because they are entirely aquatic and do not return to nesting beaches, unlike females. |
| In green turtles the males are often smaller than the females, so a 2025 review suggests female leatherbacks could grow even bigger | However, in other species, like green turtles, males are often smaller than females (Godley et al. 2002). The largest leatherback turtle recorded was a dead stranded male ... Thus, there is the possibility of females being even larger. (note: 2025 is the review's publication year) |

## Chen, Yang & Meyers (2015). Leatherback sea turtle shell: A tough and flexible biological design. Acta Biomaterialia.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actbio.2015.09.023

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| seven ridges that help water flow smoothly past | The leatherback turtle has ridges along the carapace to enhance the hydrodynamic flow |
| Diving Past a Kilometer Down | This design allows the body to contract better than a hard-shelled sea turtle as it dives to depths of over 1,000 m. (note: section heading) |
| A 2015 materials-science study found that the flexible seams between the osteoderms let the leatherback's body squeeze smaller than a hard-shelled sea turtle's as it dives past 1,000 meters | The soft dermis and suture geometry enable a significant amount of flexing of the junction between adjacent osteoderms. This design allows the body to contract better than a hard-shelled sea turtle as it dives to depths of over 1,000 m. (note: 2015 is the paper's publication year, from its citation) |
| It does have armor, just not the kind you can knock on. | explain its amazing structure and capacity for flexing, while retaining its protection capability (note: faq 2 opener; protection is the shell's retained function) |
| Every other turtle's bony shell is covered in hard keratin, but the leatherback's is covered in skin | This is enabled by the flexibility between the bony plates comprising its shell, which is covered by a skin and not by hard keratin as all other turtles. |
| its bony plates are linked by collagen fibers, so a 2015 materials-science study found the shell can flex while still protecting the turtle | The osteoderm is composed of bony plates that are interconnected with collagen fibers in a structure called suture. ... explain its amazing structure and capacity for flexing, while retaining its protection capability (note: 2015 is the paper's publication year) |
| tags: deep-sea | dives to depths of over 1,000 m. (note: task #770: kept; bathypelagic zone begins at 1,000 m) |

## Schuyler et al. (2013). Global Analysis of Anthropogenic Debris Ingestion by Sea Turtles. Conservation Biology.

https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.12126

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| a 2013 global analysis found ocean-going leatherbacks and green turtles face the greatest risk of harm or death from swallowed debris | Our results indicate oceanic leatherback turtles and green turtles are at the greatest risk of both lethal and sublethal effects from ingested marine debris. (note: 2013 is the paper's publication year, from its citation) |