Olive ridley turtle
Lepidochelys olivacea
- Scientific name
- Lepidochelys olivacea
- Group
- Sea turtles
- Rarity
- Rare
- Where to see it
- Caribbean & Tropical Atlantic, Indo-Pacific & Red Sea
- Conservation status (IUCN)
- Vulnerable
Did you know?
The olive ridley is the smallest and most abundant sea turtle species; it's famous for its arribadas, mass nestings where thousands of females come ashore on the same beach within just a few days.
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
- Hawksbill turtle
- Leatherback turtle
- Flatback turtle
- Kemp's ridley turtle