The following research project will focus on the Eastern Mediterranean Loggerhead Sea Turtle. Particularly, this paper will analyze why the Loggerhead consistently returns to it its natal nesting grounds in the eastern Mediterranean as opposed to nesting in the western region. To begin, background of the Eastern Mediterranean Loggerhead will be provided to the reader, and then the essay will proceed to discuss the process by which Loggerheads nest and hatch. Following this explanation, this essay will discuss this turtle’s transnational migration habits. After describing the movements of the animal, the reader will be provided with an analysis of possible reasons for natal homing. These reasons include: geographic and climate related preferences
In this paper I will describe the types of sea turtles and some of the special things about how they live and reproduce. Then, I will talk about some of the threats that they face. Finally, I will discuss possible solutions to helping them thrive in the modern world.
shows that loggerhead turtles also use vision to forage on gelatinous prey in mid-water. Sea turtles’ diet vary by species and age, loggerhead turtles have strong jaws that is adapted for grinding and they also consume jellyfish. For the study, scientists used an animal-borne imaging system and three-dimensional data logger simultaneously observed the foraging behaviour of large juvenile and adult sized loggerhead turtles in natural environment. During the observational period, an incident of a turtle encountering a plastic bag while swimming in the water was recorded and it responded as having a turning point and deceleration phase. Its’ response to the plastic bag in additionally supported the use of vision in foraging. (experimental video link:
The magnificent leatherback sea turtle is a precious species that exists in the world today. It has endured and evolved through the years, and it would be terrible if humans put an end to their amazing existence. By learning more and taking an active role in supporting conservation programs, hopefully the leatherback population can grow and
Sea turtle hatchlings are now having trouble finding their way to the sea because of all the lights from buildings that are built on the coast. They get disoriented when they are born and will wander in the wrong way away from the sea. This leads them to predators that live inland or will even cause the turtle to become dehydrated and die. Humans are also building coastal armoring that is blocking female turtles from reaching a suitable nesting habitat. This is a severe problem in Florida where they have many coastal rock elevations and sand bags. Where all this beach development is occurring thousands of sea turtles are trying to nest. Beach dredging is also having a direct effect on sea turtle's trying to nest. If the sand is too impacted or is drastically different from native beach sediment, the mother will have trouble creating the
Can an animal’s beauty be the cause of its extinction? This is the case for the Hawksbill turtle. Nahill clarifies, “people use the turtles’ unique shells for jewelry and other beauty accessories. The Hawksbill turtle is an endangered species, with human impact being the leading cause of its endangerment. Since humans are the cause of their endangerment, it is our duty to raise awareness of such harm before it is too late” (Nahill, 2008). The Hawksbill turtles are commonly known for their beautiful shell. The turtles are captured and killed so their shells could be sold. The shells sell for around $220 per kilogram (Weisler, 2005). As these turtles are being captured and killed leading them to near extinction, we need to understand the overall
Kemp's Ridley sea turtles are fascinating. Not many animals lay 200-300 eggs a year and are still considered endangered. Even though Kemp's Ridley sea turtles lay many eggs their population is small, how can this be?
Chelonia mydas, also known as the green sea turtle,is one of the seven remaining sea turtles in the planet. Though most sea turtles are characterized by its large, streamlined shells, the green sea turtle gains its name from the olive green colour of its skin, which is made up of fat and cartilage, not their shell. In fact, the hard, bony, and scaly shell of the green sea turtle is a darkish brown. Their oval shell can also be a light shade of brown or yellow. The narrow, wing-like flippers in these turtles as a replacement for forearms has made them better adapted to the aquatic conditions of their habitat. These flippers have one visible claw at the tip, used for protection from predators. To compensate for the lack of teeth in these species,
Sea turtles can be very interesting. There are seven different kinds of sea turtles. Three of them are the Loggerhead, Leatherback, and the Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles. The Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle Is endangered along with another 3 species of turtles. They are also th the smallest of all the sea turtles. They only measure about 2 feet in height and only weigh about 100 pounds as adults. When they are born they are almost black and are only about 2 inches big. They reach maturity at about 12 years old. The Leatherback is the largest living turtle. The reach about 3.9-6.2 ft and weigh around 441-1116 pounds.The have dark shells with lighter spots. They are called leatherbacks because their shells are leather and not as hard as other sea turtles. A Loggerhead turtles grown to be about 350 pounds. They are called loggerhead turtles because they have big heads and very
Loggerhead sea turtles also have long migrations and these migrations transport nutrients and energy from one area to another. The migration of males from foraging grounds to nesting beaches
Paleontologists working with the Senckenberg Research Institute in Frankfurt recently shared information about the oldest sea turtle fossil yet discovered. It predates the previous record holder from Brazil, Santanachelys gaffneyi, by at least 25 million years.
2 years later, Turtle and Crab decided to go to shell camp down by where turtle live.
The fragments of the turtle’s genes in the database needed to be assembled independently of one another; thus, HiSeq 2000 was used to shotgun sequence and the sequences were assembled with SOAPdenovo assembler. The resulting genomic size of each turtle species was ~ 2.2 Gb with N50 lengths of scaffolds smaller than 3.3 Mb. Based on the analysis of the genetic database study, and looking at orthologous sets of 1,113 single-copy coding genes, there was and immense amount of evidence that turtles are likely to be a sister clade of crocodiles and birds. This likely means that the secondary fenestra reptiles have was lost in turtles have the two sister groups diverged from a common ancestor 257.4 million years ago. (likely the
Turtles belong to the class Reptilia, the subclass Anapsida, and the order Testudines (Le Buff 1990). Reptiles have repeatedly invaded marine environments with varying success and marine adaptation has been undertaken more than once in the history of the Cheloniidae family. Marine reptiles were particularly successful in the Mesozoic as major predators in the sea. Mesozoic marine reptiles explored a variety of swimming styles and diets that included fish, cephalopods, other vertebrates, and hard-shelled invertebrates (Motani 2009). The earliest marine turtles appeared in the Jurassic and were a marine species of the family Pleurosternidae known as Desmemys bertelsmanni, as well as an entire marine family, the Thalassemyidae. The carapace of
At least 270 million years6 of evolution within the reptile crown clade has produced a panoply of cranial forms. From the hyperkinetic anatomy of snakes to the encephalized and highly visual architecture of birds, the reptile skull is an increasingly popular model for understanding the evolution and development of vertebrate adaptation11, 12. Turtles are an important yet enigmatic piece of this evolutionary puzzle. The earliest uncontroversial stem turtles1, 13 exhibit an anapsid skull with an adductor chamber concealed by bone
Did you know that sea turtles have lived for over 120 million years? Sea turtles are an ancient group of reptiles that spend most of their time swimming or floating through the water. There are seven different species of sea turtles that are alive today. When classifying sea turtles, the kingdom is Animalia, which contains all multicellular eukaryotic organisms. The phylum is Chordata, which contains many animals that have a nerve cord, a nervous system, and more. The class is Reptilia, which includes all reptiles, and the order is Testudines, which includes turtles and tortoises. Some important facts about sea turtles are their habitat, diet, and behavior, especially around other sea turtles. These, and more, are what you will learn from this