Wildlifeof Costa Rica
Leatherback Turtle
Sea Turtles
Photo: (c) Pam Kleinsasser, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC-BY
Dermochelys coriacea
Basic stats
Diet
Carnivorous (ReptTraits)
Habitat
Open ocean, coming ashore only to nest
Range
Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans; nests on Costa Rica's Caribbean beaches, including Gandoca and Parismina, and on Pacific beaches
Clutch size
About 105 eggs (AnAge)
Size
Curved carapace length 1–1.75m; total length 1.83–2.2m
Weight
250–700kg
The leatherback is the largest living turtle and the heaviest reptile apart from crocodilians. It has no bony shell: the carapace is oily flesh and leathery skin with tiny bones embedded in it, with seven ridges running along it. The body is teardrop-shaped and hydrodynamic, and the front flippers, up to 2.7m tip to tip in large animals, are the largest relative to body size of any sea turtle. Neither pair of flippers has claws (Wikipedia, general species account).
There are three genetically distinct populations, in the Atlantic, eastern Pacific and western Pacific oceans. In Costa Rica, the beaches of Gandoca and Parismina on the Caribbean coast are nesting grounds, and the eastern Pacific population nests on the Pacific coast of Mexico, Central America including Costa Rica, and elsewhere (Wikipedia, general species account).
On this guide it is a target species of Tortuguero and Las Baulas, where nesting is seasonal and visits are guided.
Quick answers
- What does the Leatherback Turtle eat?
- Carnivorous (ReptTraits)
- What habitat does the Leatherback Turtle live in?
- Open ocean, coming ashore only to nest
- Where is the Leatherback Turtle found?
- Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans; nests on Costa Rica's Caribbean beaches, including Gandoca and Parismina, and on Pacific beaches
- How many eggs does the Leatherback Turtle lay?
- About 105 eggs (AnAge)
- How big is the Leatherback Turtle?
- Curved carapace length 1–1.75m; total length 1.83–2.2m
- How much does the Leatherback Turtle weigh?
- 250–700kg