Flatback sea turtle

Flatback sea turtle
Nesting on Great Keppel Island off Queensland Coast, Australia
CITES Appendix I (CITES)[2]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Testudines
Suborder: Cryptodira
Superfamily: Chelonioidea
Family: Cheloniidae
Subfamily: Cheloniinae
Genus: Natator
McCulloch, 1908
Species:
N. depressus
Binomial name
Natator depressus
(Garman, 1880)
Distribution map and nesting beaches of flatback sea turtle
Synonyms[3]
  • Chelonia depressa
    Garman, 1880 (protonym)
  • Natator tessellatus
    McCulloch, 1908
  • Natator depressus
    — Zangerl et al., 1988

The Australian flatback sea turtle (Natator depressus)[4] is a species of sea turtle in the family Cheloniidae. The species is endemic to the sandy beaches and shallow coastal waters of the Australian continental shelf. This turtle gets its common name from the fact that its shell has a flattened or lower dome than the other sea turtles. It can be olive green to grey with a cream underside. It averages from 76 to 96 cm (30 to 38 inches) in carapace length and can weigh from 70 to 90 kg (154 to 198 lb). The hatchlings, when emerging from nests, are larger than other sea turtle hatchlings when they hatch.

The flatback turtle is listed by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as data deficient, meaning there is insufficient scientific information to determine its conservation status at this time.[1] It was previously listed as vulnerable in 1994.[5] It is not as threatened as other sea turtles due to its small dispersal range.[6] This animal can be 31 to 37 inches long and about 100 kg in weight

  1. ^ a b Red List Standards & Petitions Subcommittee (2022) [errata version of 1996 assessment]. "Natator depressus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 1996: e.T14363A210612474. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
  2. ^ "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  3. ^ Species Natator depressus at The Reptile Database
  4. ^ Limpus, Colin J. (1971). "The Flatback Turtle, Chelonia depressa Garman in Southeast Queensland, Australia". Herpetologica 27 (4): 431–446.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference :6 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).