#lute turtle

Request courtesy of @phrog-champ

Interesting Notes: Like the Florida Softshell Turtle we covered a while back, the Leatherback Turtle lacks the bony plated shell of most turtles, having instead a softer shell made of cartilage-like tissue covered in thick, leathery skin.  They were once commonly given nicknames containing the word "lute" as the ridges on their back reminded people of the ribbed back of a lute.  Of course, the most noticeable feature is this turtle's size.  Largest of all known living turtles, it is also the heaviest, with the most massive specimens weighing up to 1,500lbs (680kg).   Sadly, several subpopulations of this magnificent turtle are considered critically endangered due to fishery bycatch and collection/destruction of their eggs.

The leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea), sometimes called the lute turtle or leathery turtle or simply the luth, is the largest of all living turtles and is the fourth-heaviest modern reptile behind three crocodilians. It is the only living species in the genus Dermochelys and family Dermochelyidae. It can easily be differentiated from other modern sea turtles by its lack of a bony shell, hence the name. Instead, its carapace is covered by skin and oily flesh.The leatherback turtle is a species with a cosmopolitan global range. Of all the extant sea turtle species, it has the widest distribution, reaching as far north as Alaska and Norway and as far south as Cape Agulhas in Africa and the southernmost tip of New Zealand. Adults subsist almost entirely on jellyfish. Due to their obligate feeding nature, leatherbacks help control jellyfish populations. They also feed on other soft-bodied organisms, such as tunicates and cephalopods.

Giant Leatherback sea turtle The leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea), sometimes called the lute turtle, is the largest of all living turtles and is the fourth-heaviest modern reptile behind three crocodilians.