Latest Turtle Stories
redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports – Your Universe Online Officials at a Japanese aquarium are looking for a high-tech apparatus that will help an injured, endangered loggerhead turtle regain the ability to swim after she lost both front flippers in a 2008 shark attack. The 25-year-old turtle, which is named Yu, currently resides at the Suma Aqualife Park in Kobe, where she was transported following the attack five years ago, according to Ruairidh Villar of Reuters. "She was in a...
Brett Smith for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online A new report from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) warns that not only are a large number of reptile species in danger of becoming extinct, there is also a severe lack of data on the conservation status of many reptiles around the world. According to the report, about one in five reptiles is currently endangered, and 12 percent are classified as ‘critically endangered.’ The research team, which included scientists from the...
Brett Smith for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Sea turtles have always been a big draw for tourists at a seaside attraction, but, according to a new research review, captive turtles and turtle products could have a health risk associated with them. The review, published in the latest edition of JRSM Short Reports, found that wild-caught sea turtles living in captivity carry the risk of exposure to toxic contaminants and harmful pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, fungi and...
Brett Smith for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Many animals spend their lives living in remote or inaccessible areas of the planet, so understanding their various habits can require some ingenuity from the various scientists who study them. By tapping into their ingenuity, a group of U.K. researchers from the University of East Anglia has uncovered new information on the mating habits of endangered sea turtles. According to the research team’s report in the newest edition of...
Report shows knowledge of overcrowding, disease publicly denied by Cayman Turtle Farm for more than five months NEW YORK, Jan. 28, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In an Independent Veterinary Assessment document recently made available to the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) from July 2012, the popular island and cruise line attraction Cayman Turtle Farm, or CTF, has had knowledge of animal health and endangerment problems on their property for more than five...
Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Scientists using GPS technology and modern 3D acceleration measurements have mapped out the annual migration of the Galapagos giant tortoise. The team from the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology found that the male tortoise can travel up to 6.2 miles into the highlands of the island, and they usually start their annual migration at the beginning of the dry season. According to the findings, only the full grown animals migrate,...
redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports - Your Universe Online At the time of his death, it appeared that Lonesome George was the last member of his species, but new research suggests that his breed of giant tortoises might live on after all. According to Jennifer Viegas of Discovery News, experts at Yale University have reportedly discovered DNA evidence suggesting that members of the species Chelonoidis abingdoni could still exist. Those researchers collected genetic material from more...
HALIFAX, Oct. 29, 2012 /CNW/ - The Canadian Wildlife Federation (CWF) and the Canadian Sea Turtle Network (CSTN) have launched the Great Canadian Turtle Race to help conserve the Endangered leatherback sea turtle and to ensure more Canadians to learn about this at-risk reptile and about marine conservation. The leatherback sea turtle is officially recognized as an endangered species by Canada and on an international scale. At the recent International Union for the Conservation...
VALHALLA, N.Y., Oct. 24, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Turtle Beach, pioneer and market-leader of the gaming headset category, and Best Buy Co., Inc. are launching a modern, in-store interactive kiosk program that sets a new standard for consumer electronics retail. Featuring a touch screen tablet and an Android based application, the customer oriented kiosk will deliver a fully interactive and educational experience, while giving Best Buy customers access to sample from Turtle Beach's...
SAN DIEGO, Oct. 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- As salmonella infections linked to turtles continue to be reported across the United States, Petco(TM) has responded with their Turtle Relinquishment Program in joint partnership with Concordia Turtle Farm. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) is encouraging anyone who has an aquatic turtle under the federally mandated four-inch carapace length to relinquish them in hopes of preventing further spread of the disease. However, Petco stores will...
Latest Turtle Reference Libraries
The Hawksbill Turtle, Eretmochelys imbricata, is a critically endangered sea turtle belonging to the family Cheloniidae. The species is distributed throughout all of the world's seas, but the Atlantic and pacific populations are divided into two subspecies. E. I. imbricata is the Atlantic subspecies and E. I. bissa is the Pacific subspecies. The Hawksbill is predominantly known as a tropical sea turtle found in the tropical seas of the Indian, Atlantic and Pacific oceans. However, they...
Kemp's Ridley, Lepiochelys kempii, is a critically endangered species of sea turtle. Their range includes the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. They are also the only turtle which almost all the females return to one single beach (Rancho Nuevo in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas) every single year to lay their eggs. They are the smallest of the sea turtle species, growing less than 40 inches and weighing about 100 pounds as an adult. Kemp's Ridley sea turtle changes color with its...
The Leatherback Sea Turtle, Dermochelys coriacea, is the biggest of all living turtles. It reaches a length of over 8.8 feet and a weight of 2,000 pounds. It is the world's 4th largest reptile. It is found in all tropical and subtropical oceans. It is the only extant species in the genre Dermochelys and the family Dermochelyidae. This species has many unique features that distinguish it greatly from other sea turtles. Its shell lacks the bony scales of other turtles, comprising mainly of...
The Alligator Snapping Turtle (Macroclemys temminckii) is a larger yet less aggressive relative of the common snapping turtle. It is characterized by a large, heavy head and a thick tail with a dorsal ridge of large scales which gives it a primitive appearance reminiscent of some of the plated dinosaurs. The inside of the turtle's mouth is camouflaged and it possesses a vermiform appendage on the tip of its tongue with which it lures fish. Like the common snapping turtle, the alligator...
