Loggerhead Turtle

Loggerhead Turtle Latest News

A recent study revealed that the loggerhead turtle can learn and remember the magnetic signature of an area and does a ‘turtle dance’ when in a location that they associate with food.

About Loggerhead Turtle

• It is a species of oceanic turtle belonging to the family Cheloniidae.
• It is named Loggerhead for their large heads that support powerful jaw muscles.
• It is the world’s largest hard-shelled turtle, slightly larger at average and maximum mature weights than the green sea turtle and the Galapagos tortoise.
• It is also the world’s second largest extant turtle after the leatherback sea turtle. 
• It uses the geomagnetic field as a map when navigating large distances.
• Distribution of Loggerhead Turtle: It has a cosmopolitan distribution, nesting over the broadest geographical range of any sea turtle. It inhabits the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans and the Mediterranean Sea.
• Diet: It is omnivorous, feeding mainly on bottom-dwelling invertebrates, such as gastropods, bivalves, and decapods. It has a greater list of known prey than any other sea turtle.
• Its conservation status, according to IUCN, is vulnerable.
• Threats to Loggerhead Turtle: Bycatch in fishing gear, Climate change, Direct harvest of turtles and eggs, Loss and degradation of nesting habitat, Ocean pollution/marine debris.

Loggerhead Turtle FAQs

Q1: Why turtles are called loggerheads?

Ans: The loggerhead turtle is named for its large head, 

Q2: Why do loggerhead turtles cry?

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Ans: Sea turtles secret excess salt from the salt glands behind their eyes. This is a necessary adaptive trait that allows them to live in the salty ocean and maintain lower concentrations of salt inside their bodies.5

Q3: What is the IUCN status of the green turtle?

Ans: Endangered category 

Source: TH