44 REPTILES OF THE WORLD 



ceeded in size only by the single species of Sphargis. 

 The shell is covered with smooth horny shields. De- 

 veloped into flat, seal-like "flippers" or paddles, the 

 limbs form powerful swimming organs. None of the 

 sea turtles leaves the sea except to deposit the eggs 

 on sandy beaches ; then the heavy creature waddles awk- 

 wardly and impresses one as an animal altogether out 

 of its element. One of the sea turtles — the Green Tur- 

 tle — is of world-wide renown as an article of food; an- 

 other — the Hawk's-Bill Turtle — furnishes the valuable 

 "tortoise" shell. 



Genus Thalassochelys. The two species are popu- 

 larly known as the Loggerhead Turtles. From the 

 other — the succeeding — genus of the family, the pres- 

 ent one may be separated by a fairly constant character 

 — this in the shape of two claws on each front flipper; 

 with Chelonia there are seldom traces of more than one 

 nail on the front paddle. 



The Loggerhead Turtle, Thalassochelys caretta, 

 looks somewhat like the Green Turtle (Chelonia). 

 From the latter species it may be told by the propor- 

 tionately larger head and the presence of the two nails 

 on each front flipper. The carapace is thick and heavy. 

 Head and flippers are covered with coarse, leathery 

 shields. With most of these turtles the upper shell is 

 dull, uniform brown; some are obscurely blotched with 

 yellow. A very large example will weigh five hundred 

 pounds and have a shell four feet long. Three hundred- 

 pound turtles, with a shell about three feet long, are not 

 rare. Such are often harpooned off the northern coasts 

 of the United States — Massachusetts and Long Island 

 — having followed the warm current of the Gulf Stream. 



Many Loggerhead Turtles are sent to the markets, 

 though the flesh is considered much inferior to that of 



