Hawksbill turtle
Eretmochelys imbricata
- Scientific name
- Eretmochelys imbricata
- Group
- Sea turtles
- Rarity
- Common
- Where to see it
- Indo-Pacific & Red Sea, Caribbean & Tropical Atlantic
- Conservation status (IUCN)
- Critically endangered
Did you know?
The hawksbill turtle gets its name from the overlapping, tile-like scutes on its shell. A major consumer of sponges that are toxic to most other animals, it is now critically endangered due to the tortoiseshell trade and reef degradation.
What defines this group — Sea turtles
Reptiles that went back to the sea: they breathe air and return to lay eggs on the beach where they hatched.
- Lungs, not gills: they have to surface to breathe.
- The front limbs have become paddles, and the shell can no longer tuck them away.
- Females find their way back to their birth beach, sometimes across thousands of kilometres.
Other species in this group
- Green sea turtle
- Loggerhead turtle
- Olive ridley turtle
- Leatherback turtle
- Flatback turtle
- Kemp's ridley turtle