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. It is the only living species in the genus Dermochelys. It can easily be differentiated from other modern sea turtles by its lack of a bony shell. Instead, its carapace is covered by skin and oily flesh. D. coriacea is the only extant member of the family Dermochelyidae.
The leatherback turtle is a species with a cosmopolitan global range. Of all the extant sea turtle species, D. coriacea 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. The leatherback is found in all tropical and subtropical oceans, and its range extends well into the Arctic Circle.
The three major, genetically distinct populations, occur in the Atlantic, eastern Pacific, and western Pacific Oceans. While nesting beaches have been identified in the region, leatherback populations in the Indian Ocean remain generally unassessed and unevaluated.
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.
