A to Z Challenge L is for Leatherback Sea Turtle

 L IS FOR LEATHERBACK SEA TURTLE

Leatherback sea turtle

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Leatherback sea turtle Temporal range: Holocene 0.012–0 Ma  PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Conservation status
Vulnerable (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Endangered (ESA)[2]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Testudines
Suborder:	Cryptodira
Superfamily:	Chelonioidea
Family:	Dermochelyidae
Subfamily:	Dermochelyinae
Genus:	Dermochelys Blainville, 1816[3]
Species:	D. coriacea
Binomial name
Dermochelys coriacea (Vandelli, 1761)[3]
Synonyms[4]
show List of synonyms

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.^[5][6] 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.