What are the physical features of the hawksbill turtle?
Description: The hawksbill is one of the smaller sea turtles. Head is narrow and has 2 pairs of prefrontal scales (scales in front of its eyes). Jaw is not serrated. Carapace is bony without ridges and has large, over-lapping scutes (scales) present and has 4 lateral scutes.
What does the hawksbill sea turtle look like?
Appearance. Hawksbill turtles have mottled shells consisting of an irregular combination of shades of amber, orange, red, yellow, black and brown. The shells typically have serrated edges, with overlapping scutes. Their head comes to a tapered point and their lower jaw is V-shaped, giving them a hawk-like appearance.
What is the physical description of a sea turtle?
Appearance: Sea turtles are characterized by a large, streamlined shell and non-retractile head and limbs. Unlike other turtles, sea turtles cannot pull their limbs and head inside their shells. Their limbs are flippers that are adapted for swimming, so they are vulnerable while on land.
What are the physical features of a green sea turtle?
It has a heart-shaped shell, small head, and single-clawed flippers. Color is variable. Hatchlings generally have a black carapace, white plastron, and white margins on the shell and limbs. The adult carapace is smooth, keelless, and light to dark brown with dark mottling; the plastron is whitish to light yellow.
How do sea turtles behave?
Sea turtles are generally solitary creatures that remain submerged for much of the time they are at sea, which makes them extremely difficult to study. They rarely interact with one another outside of courtship and mating. Ridleys, however, do come together in massive groups during nesting.
What are sea turtle scutes used for?
The scutes on a sea turtle’s carapace are made of keratin, much like your fingernails. The scutes from hawksbills are what is used to make jewelry and other “tortoiseshell” items. The pattern and number of scutes on a sea turtle’s carapace may be used to identify its species.
Do turtles have a symbiotic relationship?
Sometimes, small groups of fish cluster around green turtles pecking at their shells. This is an example of a symbiotic relationship (a long standing relationship between two species). When both species benefit: the turtle gets its shell cleaned and the fish gets a meal, this special relationship is called mutualism.
What makes sea turtles unique?
Sea turtles don’t retract into their shells. Unlike other turtles, sea turtles cannot retract their flippers and head into their shells. Their streamlined shells and large paddle-shaped flippers make them very agile and graceful swimmers.
Why are hawksbill turtles critically endangered?
Like many sea turtles, hawksbills are a critically endangered species due mostly to human impact. Hawksbill eggs are still eaten around the world despite the turtle’s international protected status, and they are often killed for their flesh and their stunning shells.
Is the hawksbill turtle endangered?
Hawksbill turtles are currently classified as Critically Endangered by the IUCN (the global authority on the status of the natural world). Alongside Kemp’s Ridley’s, they are believed to be the most endangered of the seven species of sea turtle, with only approximately 8,000 nesting females left globally.
Where do hawksbill turtles live?
Hawksbill Sea Turtles. The hawksbill is one of seven species of sea turtles worldwide and is found in tropical and sub-tropical waters of the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic Oceans.
