The flatback sea turtle was described as Chelonia depressa in 1880 by Samuel Garman in 1880, before being transferred to the genus Natator in 1908 by Allan Riverstone McCulloch. Description Illustration of a top view of a flatback sea turtle.
Hirth, H.F. 1997. Synopsis of the biological data on the green turtle Chelonia mydas (Linnaeus 1758). Fish and Wildlife Service Biological Report 97(1).
Recovery plan for hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) in the U.S. Caribbean, Atlantic, and Gulf of Mexico. National Marine Fisheries Service, St. Petersburg, FL. National Marine Fisheries Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Kemp's ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys kempii), or the Atlantic ridley sea turtle, is the rarest species of sea turtle and is critically endangered.
Pacific leatherback sea turtles are one of NOAA Fisheries' Species in the Spotlight. Pacific leatherback sea turtles are genetically and biologically unique. They migrate extreme distances across the Pacific from nesting to foraging areas, and are generally larger in size than Atlantic leatherbacks.
The loggerhead turtle was first listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) as threatened throughout its range on July 28, 1978. In September 2011, NMFS and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed 9 Distinct Population Segments (DPSs) [pdf] of loggerhead sea turtles under the ESA.
Some olive ridleys employ a mixed nesting strategy. For example, a single female might nest during an arribada, as well as nest alone during the same nesting season. Arribada nesting is a behavior found only in the genus Lepidochelys: Kemp's ridley sea turtles and olive ridley sea turtles. Although other turtles have been documented nesting in groups, no other turtles (marine or otherwise) have been observed nesting in such mass numbers and synchrony.