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Sea turtles are large, cold blooded animals that come into the category of reptiles. They are air breathing reptiles that are found in seas throughout the world in tropical and subtropical regions.
Sea turtles have shells that consist of an upper and a lower part. Except for the leatherback turtles, the shells of the different species of sea turtles are covered with hard scales also known as scutes. The number of these scutes is actually a very good way to determine the different species of sea turtles.
This animal comes in a lot of shapes and sizes. The leatherback turtles happen to grow to be very large with some specimens even having been recorded at 1300lbs in weight. Then there are the Olive Ridley sea turtles that are typically never going to grow any bigger than 100lbs.
They are migratory animals that travel throughout the seas in their lives and they live to be around 100 years old. Sea turtles do not have any teeth but the years of evolution has seen their jaws develop into a beak like shape which helps them eat their prey.
While it may look like the sea turtles do not have ears, their ear drums are actually there but covered by their skin. These help them hear very well at low frequencies. These reptiles have an excellent sense of smell and a very good sense of sight when they are underwater. In contrast, when they are on land and out of the water, sea turtles are actually short sighted.
Sea turtles have large front flippers and a very streamlined body that allows them to swim through the waters with ease. While sea turtles do spend most of their lives in the sea, their association with land is still there.
The reason for that is the fact that female sea turtles come ashore every year in order to lay their eggs in the sand. This is why the lives of all sea turtles start on land.
This is also the reason why most of the research that has been done on sea turtles has been done because of the females. It is the easiest way to be able to find them and study the adult females and the hatchlings.
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