#Americhelydia

[great-and-small]

Happy fourth 🫡

[animalids]

Green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas)

Photo by Xabier Mina

[dendroica]

Common Snapping Turtle (via USFWS Mountain-Prairie)

A common snapping turtle photographed at GPNFH

Gavins Point National Fish Hatchery, Yankton, SD.

Photo: Sam Stukel, USFWS

[samayalost]

Mandíbula de Archelon

[organismalequality]

TESTUDINE TUESDAY

-Classification-

Common Name: Green Sea Turtle

Aliases: Green Turtle, Black Sea Turtle, Pacific Green Turtle

Scientific Name: Chelonia mydas

                                                   Kingdom: Animalia

                                                    Phylum: Chordata

                                                       Class: Reptilia

                                                     Order: Testudines

                                                  Suborder: Cryptodira

                                                  Clade: Americhelydia

                                                   Family: Cheloniidae

                                                      Genus: Chelonia

                                                     Species: C.mydas

-General Info-

Size: Adults can reach up to 5 feet long (1.5 meters).

Weight: Adults can weigh up to 150 - 419 pounds (68 - 190 kilograms).

Carapace Length (Shell): Adults on average have a shell length between 31 - 44 inches (78 - 112 centimeters).

Gender Differences: Males have a slightly longer tail and are overall larger than females in size. Males also have longer claws on their front flippers. However, both do have paddle-like flippers which aid in their swimming. 

Lifespan (Wild): Green Sea Turtles that reach maturity can live for roughly 80 years.

Diet: Juvenile Green Sea Turtles are initially carnivorous (diet consists mainly or exclusively of meat) eating things like mollusks (snails and clams), sponges, algae, and even fish eggs. As they’re maturing, they’ll incorporate plants into their diet and are considered omnivorous (diet consists of both meats and plants). Once they’re fully-grown adults, most of them are herbivores and have cut out meat in their diets due to their serrated jaw (saw-like) which helps them chew plant life like various sea grasses and algae.

Group: A group of Sea Turtles is called a bale.

                                          -Habitat and Lifestyle-

Life Cycle: Almost everyone knows that Sea Turtles hatch from eggs that are laid on beaches in Southeast Asia, India, western Pacific islands, and Central America. One of the most dangerous events in a Sea Turtle’s life happens as soon as they hatch. As they attempt to flee into the ocean they may be attacked by predators like birds and crabs; a big percentage of hatchlings won’t make it to the water. Juveniles who did make it to the water spend anywhere from 3 - 5 years in the deep ocean. After their years of exploration, the juveniles will find shallow watered areas to call home for the rest of their days. Sadly, estimations say that only about 1% of Sea turtle hatchlings will make it to sexual maturity which occurs after about 20 - 50 years. Finally, once mating occurs the female will breach the ocean’s surface past the high tide line of the beach to lay her eggs. She then returns back to the sea. 

Breeding: Mating occurs every 2 - 4 years.

Gender Deciding Factors: Nests in areas above 30 degrees Celsius tend to favor female hatchlings whereas areas below 30 degrees Celsius tend to favor male hatchlings. Egg positioning also plays a role in whether a hatchling may be male or female. If the egg is more towards the center of the nest then it has a higher chance of resulting in a female hatchling due to the center being warmer.

Number of Eggs per Nest: Each nest will contain about 110 eggs.

Number of Nests per Season: On average, a female Sea Turtle can create 2 - 8 nests in a single season.

Habitats: Generally, Green Sea Turtles stay near island and continental coastlines. Depending on their stage in life, Green Sea Turtles can be found in many different types of environments. Younger juveniles can be found in the open ocean as they spend years swimming around before they settle down. Older juveniles and mature adults will find permanent residence in areas that are more shallow like coral reefs, seagrass beds near shore, and salt marshes. These areas are generally good spots for protecting the turtles. Globally, you can find Sea Turtles in warm tropical waters to subtropical waters. 

                  -Role in the Ecosystem and Endangerment-

Ecosystem Roles: In the varying areas Sea Turtles can be found, they have a strikingly powerful role to play in each. For instance, on the beaches where their eggs lay cracked and empty, key nutrients are given to the ecosystem through the eggshells. For the turtles located in the seagrass beds, they feed on the seagrass and in doing so they improve the health and development of the seagrass; this in turn results in a suitable habitat and place for feeding for various species of fish and crustaceans (crabs, shrimp, barnacles, crayfish, etc). 

Conservation Status: Green Sea Turtles are listed as Endangered whereas some subpopulations in the Mediterranean are listed as Critically Endangered. Some human-caused threats include being hunted, poached, and having their eggs collected. Whereas accidental threats like boats, pollution, habitat destruction, and fishing nets are reducing the population as well. 

[thoughtlessarse]

A turtle lays its eggs on a beach in Yemen’s Mahra province, near the border with Oman. With sands made hotter by climate change, eggs are rarely yielding male turtles, which require cooler temperatures during the incubation period - Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

You can read more about the threat to turtles and other temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD) species here. My personal hope is that since many of these species have survived earlier high temperature periods, they may do so again. We may even see a lot more parthenogenesis in these species.

click image link for more Week in Wildlife photos

[animalids]

Green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas)

Photo by Sandy Hill

[animalids]

Green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas)

Photo by Shawn Miller

[animalids]

Green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas)

Photo by Jon Atkinson

[dendroica]

Young Common Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina) along dike 10 June 2011 (via U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Northeast Region)

Common snapping turtle at Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge.

Credit: Steve Arena/USFWS