Cheloniidae Sea Turtle

Cheloniidae, Chelonia mydas Agassizii

Cheloniidae

Shell, Cheloniidae Sea Turtle head and flippers were covered with horny lamellae (scutes); horny beak never ‘W’ shaped when viewed from the front; flippers with 1 or 2 claws. Carapace oval, depressed, its width about 88% of the total length. Head small (about 20% of carapace length), with a single pair of prefrontal scutes; edge of lower jaw coarsely toothed, that of upper jaw with strong ridges on inner surface.

Cheloniidae

Cheloniidae

Four pairs of lateral scutes on carapace, anterior pairs not touching the precentral scute; 4 pairs of inframarginal scutes on plastron; a single claws on each side. Upper side dark olive brown or black, scutes of carapace shiny with radiating yellow, green and black spots; underside pale grey or whitish. Eggs are white, spherical, about 4.5 cm in diameter, and 38 g in weight. It is interesting to note these turtles browse the leaves of Avicennia and the fruits of mangroves.

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