Okay so im doing an extra credit poster project for science, which happens to be due tommorow. Well anyways, It is about sea turtles (the project is about sea turtles, I cant use anyother sea creature so please dont post info on them. I can use ANY kind of sea turtle, as long as it is from the sea. I looked for the answers to these questions (below) online(on a few different sites) and cant seem to find the answer.
Here are the questions:
1.On average, how many offspring does a sea turtle produce a year?
2. What physical adaptations have helped sea turtles survive in their enviroment?
3. What SPECIFIC enviromental factors affect their abililty to survive?
4. What natural and man-made factors may be affecting their ability to survive long enough to reproduce successfully?
Thanks for answering ahead of time! Also can you PLEASE include the sea turtle species!
Here are the questions:
1.On average, how many offspring does a sea turtle produce a year?
2. What physical adaptations have helped sea turtles survive in their enviroment?
3. What SPECIFIC enviromental factors affect their abililty to survive?
4. What natural and man-made factors may be affecting their ability to survive long enough to reproduce successfully?
Thanks for answering ahead of time! Also can you PLEASE include the sea turtle species!
Leather Back sea turtle
1. 640 ( although i am not sure of this one)
2.The Leatherback sea turtle has adapted to living in its aquatic environment. Its shell’s streamlined shape and softness help it adapt to the water in which it lives. This streamlined shape makes it easier for the Leatherback to keep constantly swimming because it allows it to flow through the water easily. Its shell is soft and flexible to absorb the pressures of the deep. Its shell also has a thick layer of oil to keep it warm in cold waters. The oil works to insulate the body so it will stay warm in the cold ocean water. The leatherback is also the biggest sea turtle. The biggest Leatherback sea turtle ever recorded was 2,019 pounds, and six feet long! This extreme body mass also helps the Leatherback by creating body heat. One other interesting adaptation is that the leatherback has a high number of red blood cells. This makes it possible to store more oxygen, so it does not have to surface as often to breath. It also can cut off circulation to any body part of its body that does not need as much oxygen. This extra oxygen can be directed to the central nervous system, heart, and brain where it may need it more. One last adaptation is the scissorlike jaws, which are perfectly designed for jellyfish and other soft-bodied animals. All of these help adapt the Leatherback to its aquatic environment, but it eventually has to go up on land.
Sorry i couldnt find the answer to 3 or 4 but here is 1 and 2
Hope this helps!!!!
1. 640 ( although i am not sure of this one)
2.The Leatherback sea turtle has adapted to living in its aquatic environment. Its shell’s streamlined shape and softness help it adapt to the water in which it lives. This streamlined shape makes it easier for the Leatherback to keep constantly swimming because it allows it to flow through the water easily. Its shell is soft and flexible to absorb the pressures of the deep. Its shell also has a thick layer of oil to keep it warm in cold waters. The oil works to insulate the body so it will stay warm in the cold ocean water. The leatherback is also the biggest sea turtle. The biggest Leatherback sea turtle ever recorded was 2,019 pounds, and six feet long! This extreme body mass also helps the Leatherback by creating body heat. One other interesting adaptation is that the leatherback has a high number of red blood cells. This makes it possible to store more oxygen, so it does not have to surface as often to breath. It also can cut off circulation to any body part of its body that does not need as much oxygen. This extra oxygen can be directed to the central nervous system, heart, and brain where it may need it more. One last adaptation is the scissorlike jaws, which are perfectly designed for jellyfish and other soft-bodied animals. All of these help adapt the Leatherback to its aquatic environment, but it eventually has to go up on land.
Sorry i couldnt find the answer to 3 or 4 but here is 1 and 2
Hope this helps!!!!
www.turtles.org/leatherd.htm
http://www.edtechnot.com/scofield/turtle...
http://www.edtechnot.com/scofield/turtle...
Green Sea Turtle
#1 The most popular nesting beaches are on French Frigate Shoals, where an estimated 90% of the Hawaiian population of green sea turtles mate and lay their eggs. Females do not mate every year, but when they do, they come ashore often- as many as five times every 15 days to make nests in the sand and lay eggs.
Green sea turtles nest only at night. The female must pull herself out of the water and all the way to the dry sand of the upper beach using only her front flippers. This is a difficult task as her front limbs have been modified into highly effective swimming flippers, and do not support the bulk of her weight in the sand. Reaching the upper portion of the beach, she uses her front flippers to dig a broad pit in the sand and her rear flippers to delicately carve out a bottle-shaped burrow. She then lays her clutch, which consists of approximately 100 leathery-skinned eggs, in the burrow and covers them carefully with sand. Lastly, she buries the pit entirely to disguise the location of her nest. Her parenting job completed, she returns to the sea, leaving her young to fend for themselves.
#2As reptiles, green sea turtles, like all other species of sea turtles, possess the following traits:
They are cold-blooded, meaning that they get their body heat from the environment rather than making their own.
They breathe air
Their skin has scales
In addition to these reptilian traits, all species of turtles have evolved a bony outer shell which protects them from predators, as turtles are not known for their speed. The shell covers both the dorsal (back) and ventral (belly) surfaces and is considered the most highly developed protective armor of any vertebrate species to have ever lived. The dorsal portion of the shell is known as the carapace and is covered with large scale-like structures called scutes. The ventral portion of the shell is known as the plastron. The carapace and plastron are connected at the sides by hard-shelled plates known as lateral bridges. Openings exist between the carapace and plastron for the head, tail, and limbs. While most species of land turtles and tortoises are able to retract their heads into their shells for added protection, sea turtles are not able to do so, and their heads remain out at all times.
The sea turtle's body is wonderfully adapted to life in the ocean. Their shells are lighter and more streamlined than those of their terrestrial counterparts, and their front and rear limbs have evolved into flippers making them efficient and graceful swimmers, capable of swimming long distances in a relatively short period of time. Sea turtles have been known to move through the water as fast as 35 mph. When active, sea turtles swim to the surface every few minutes in order to breathe. When sleeping or resting, which usually occurs at night, adult sea turtles can remain underwater for more than 2 hours without breathing. This is due to the fact that turtles are capable of containing higher concentrations of carbon dioxide in their blood than most other air-breathing animals, enabling them to use their oxygen very efficiently. Both muscles and blood are able to store oxygen in large quantities, allowing sea turtles to remain underwater for such long periods of time. Juvenile sea turtles have not developed this ability as well as adults and must sleep afloat at the water's surface.
In addition to solving the problems of swimming and breathing, sea turtles have also come up with an ingenious way to rid their bodies of the salts they accumulate from the seawater in which they live. Just behind each eye is a salt gland. The salt glands help sea turtles to maintain a healthy water balance by shedding large "tears" of excess salt. If a sea turtle appears to be "crying" it is usually not cause for alarm, as the turtles are merely keeping their physiology in check. It is not because they are upset or sad.
#3 III. FACTORS AFFECTING GREEN SEA TURTLE POPULATIONS:
There were once several million green sea turtles worldwide. Today, fewer than 200,000 nesting females are thought to remain. In Hawaii, scientists currently estimate that only 100 to 350 females nest each year, predominantly at French Frigate Shoals in the Northwest Hawaiian chain. Listed below are some of the factors believed to have contributed to the decline of the green sea turtle, as well as other sea turtle species:
A. Hunting
Sea turtles have long been hunted for a variety of uses. Their shells have been used to make jewelry and ornaments, their skin to make small leather goods, their meat and eggs for food, and their fat for oil. In modern times, the number of sea turtles taken has increased dramatically due to the opportunity for profits they provide through commercial trade.
Ancient Hawaiians used the meat of the green sea turtle for food. Green sea turtles are also recognized as being the main ingredient in turtle soup. Before protective laws such as the
#1 The most popular nesting beaches are on French Frigate Shoals, where an estimated 90% of the Hawaiian population of green sea turtles mate and lay their eggs. Females do not mate every year, but when they do, they come ashore often- as many as five times every 15 days to make nests in the sand and lay eggs.
Green sea turtles nest only at night. The female must pull herself out of the water and all the way to the dry sand of the upper beach using only her front flippers. This is a difficult task as her front limbs have been modified into highly effective swimming flippers, and do not support the bulk of her weight in the sand. Reaching the upper portion of the beach, she uses her front flippers to dig a broad pit in the sand and her rear flippers to delicately carve out a bottle-shaped burrow. She then lays her clutch, which consists of approximately 100 leathery-skinned eggs, in the burrow and covers them carefully with sand. Lastly, she buries the pit entirely to disguise the location of her nest. Her parenting job completed, she returns to the sea, leaving her young to fend for themselves.
#2As reptiles, green sea turtles, like all other species of sea turtles, possess the following traits:
They are cold-blooded, meaning that they get their body heat from the environment rather than making their own.
They breathe air
Their skin has scales
In addition to these reptilian traits, all species of turtles have evolved a bony outer shell which protects them from predators, as turtles are not known for their speed. The shell covers both the dorsal (back) and ventral (belly) surfaces and is considered the most highly developed protective armor of any vertebrate species to have ever lived. The dorsal portion of the shell is known as the carapace and is covered with large scale-like structures called scutes. The ventral portion of the shell is known as the plastron. The carapace and plastron are connected at the sides by hard-shelled plates known as lateral bridges. Openings exist between the carapace and plastron for the head, tail, and limbs. While most species of land turtles and tortoises are able to retract their heads into their shells for added protection, sea turtles are not able to do so, and their heads remain out at all times.
The sea turtle's body is wonderfully adapted to life in the ocean. Their shells are lighter and more streamlined than those of their terrestrial counterparts, and their front and rear limbs have evolved into flippers making them efficient and graceful swimmers, capable of swimming long distances in a relatively short period of time. Sea turtles have been known to move through the water as fast as 35 mph. When active, sea turtles swim to the surface every few minutes in order to breathe. When sleeping or resting, which usually occurs at night, adult sea turtles can remain underwater for more than 2 hours without breathing. This is due to the fact that turtles are capable of containing higher concentrations of carbon dioxide in their blood than most other air-breathing animals, enabling them to use their oxygen very efficiently. Both muscles and blood are able to store oxygen in large quantities, allowing sea turtles to remain underwater for such long periods of time. Juvenile sea turtles have not developed this ability as well as adults and must sleep afloat at the water's surface.
In addition to solving the problems of swimming and breathing, sea turtles have also come up with an ingenious way to rid their bodies of the salts they accumulate from the seawater in which they live. Just behind each eye is a salt gland. The salt glands help sea turtles to maintain a healthy water balance by shedding large "tears" of excess salt. If a sea turtle appears to be "crying" it is usually not cause for alarm, as the turtles are merely keeping their physiology in check. It is not because they are upset or sad.
#3 III. FACTORS AFFECTING GREEN SEA TURTLE POPULATIONS:
There were once several million green sea turtles worldwide. Today, fewer than 200,000 nesting females are thought to remain. In Hawaii, scientists currently estimate that only 100 to 350 females nest each year, predominantly at French Frigate Shoals in the Northwest Hawaiian chain. Listed below are some of the factors believed to have contributed to the decline of the green sea turtle, as well as other sea turtle species:
A. Hunting
Sea turtles have long been hunted for a variety of uses. Their shells have been used to make jewelry and ornaments, their skin to make small leather goods, their meat and eggs for food, and their fat for oil. In modern times, the number of sea turtles taken has increased dramatically due to the opportunity for profits they provide through commercial trade.
Ancient Hawaiians used the meat of the green sea turtle for food. Green sea turtles are also recognized as being the main ingredient in turtle soup. Before protective laws such as the
Mmm, conservation, wildlife ecology/evolution question...GOOD!
Sea turtles are evolutionary hardy critters, with little natural threats, so even our indirect influence upon the climate and oceans has little effect upon turtle resources such as food, habitat, and migration. Unfortunately, humans are the single, primary direct cause of only 1 in 1,000 turtles surviving to adulthood, and rarely do they live to 100 years or more anymore, as they once did as a standard lifespan.
The listed websites give further details, but the core points are:
1. Loggerhead, Caretta caretta, "Nest at intervals of 2, 3, or more years. They lay 4 to 7 nests per season, approximately 12 to 14 days apart. Lays average of between 100 to 126 eggs in each nest. Eggs incubate for about 60 days."
Leatherback, Dermochelys coriacea, "Nest at intervals of 2 to 3 years, though recent research has indicated they can nest every year. Nests between 6 to 9 times per season, with an average of 10 days between nestings. Lays an average of 80 fertilized eggs, the size of billiard balls, and 30 smaller, unfertilized eggs, in each nest. Eggs incubate for about 65 days. Unlike other species of sea turtles, leatherback females may change nesting beaches, though they tend to stay in the same region."
See "Nesting" under each species on the site http://www.cccturtle.org/sea-turtle-info...
For instance, in Greece, a successful nest of 110 eggs will quite likely produce 35 to 50 hatchlings when it first "breaks", then for another 2 to 10 days produce two to three smaller batches of 5 to 20 hatchlings. Some of the eggs are probably unfertilised or contain unhatched embryos.
And not all of the hatchlings will survive, but this is the estimated production...roughly 40-70 hatchlings produced per clutch, 5-9 clutches per year, 450 to 630 hatchlings per year (again much less survive just the initial "flight" crawl and frenzy swim the first 24 hours, some resources citing only 30% approx survive the swim)
2. Beaks adapted to their diet, adapt to diet of grasses which were abundant and now limiting http://www.cccturtle.org/sea-turtle-info...
some diet flexibility so not limited to single food resource, http://www.platanias.info/seaturtle.htm direct pasted info below:
Like all reptiles, they are poikilotherms, which means that they use the heat of the environment as the main source of maintaining body heat
They resemble the primitive amphibians and birds in having only single small bone in the ear to conduct sound. Sea turtles are especially sensitive to low frequencies like ground vibrations and surf
They have lungs and breathe air
They lay their eggs on land
Their heart is divided into two auricles and one ventricle, resulting in incomplete double circulation, which means they can tolerate a fairly high level of carbon dioxide in their blood
Their body is protected in a horny shell. One exception is the leatherback sea turtle ( Dermochelys coriacea ) with its leathery skin shell covering.
The "soft" shell enabled larger body mass and growth, so despite no "hard" shell protection, the leatherback's larger size alone inhibits predation and other threats.
Well developed sense of smell to detect food.
Morphological adaptations for long-distance migration. Among these are streamlining of the body and [development of flippers] hypertrophy of the phalanges to form flippers. The body is tapered and has reduced head and limb pockets. These features reduce resistance through the water (drag) and hence reduce the costs of long-distance locomotion. http://www.arbec.com.my/sea-turtles/art1...
Lungs designed for rapid air exchange and "long breath holding" ability, oxygenation of body cells and systems. Hatchlings have varied oxygen consumption, less being ideal as they swim faster and further, need less air supply and less visits to the surface while swimming out to deeper and safer waters.
Behavioral adaptations also, but your Q specific for Physiological and morphological.
3. Climate, Food Resource Availability, Predation (including human on adult sea turtles and poaching eggs, our domestic cat "at large populations" predate hatchlings and eggs,as well as foxes, feral pig, mongooses, raccoons, armadillos etc), Resource competition, confusing females by lighting and road building/urban sprawl, Decreased Nest Survival rate due to factors in #4 below
4. Harvest for consumption, Illegal shell trade, commercial fishing, marine debris (i.e. plastic, garbage), artificial lighting, coastal armoring, beach nourishment/dredging, beach activities (i.e. human activity inhibits nesting), marine pollution, climate change (our effect upon the overall temperature of Earth and oceans)
From http://www.platanias.info/seaturtle.htm
Capture by fishermen for exploitation purposes (meat, accessories)
Poaching of eggs for consumption
By-catch in f
Sea turtles are evolutionary hardy critters, with little natural threats, so even our indirect influence upon the climate and oceans has little effect upon turtle resources such as food, habitat, and migration. Unfortunately, humans are the single, primary direct cause of only 1 in 1,000 turtles surviving to adulthood, and rarely do they live to 100 years or more anymore, as they once did as a standard lifespan.
The listed websites give further details, but the core points are:
1. Loggerhead, Caretta caretta, "Nest at intervals of 2, 3, or more years. They lay 4 to 7 nests per season, approximately 12 to 14 days apart. Lays average of between 100 to 126 eggs in each nest. Eggs incubate for about 60 days."
Leatherback, Dermochelys coriacea, "Nest at intervals of 2 to 3 years, though recent research has indicated they can nest every year. Nests between 6 to 9 times per season, with an average of 10 days between nestings. Lays an average of 80 fertilized eggs, the size of billiard balls, and 30 smaller, unfertilized eggs, in each nest. Eggs incubate for about 65 days. Unlike other species of sea turtles, leatherback females may change nesting beaches, though they tend to stay in the same region."
See "Nesting" under each species on the site http://www.cccturtle.org/sea-turtle-info...
For instance, in Greece, a successful nest of 110 eggs will quite likely produce 35 to 50 hatchlings when it first "breaks", then for another 2 to 10 days produce two to three smaller batches of 5 to 20 hatchlings. Some of the eggs are probably unfertilised or contain unhatched embryos.
And not all of the hatchlings will survive, but this is the estimated production...roughly 40-70 hatchlings produced per clutch, 5-9 clutches per year, 450 to 630 hatchlings per year (again much less survive just the initial "flight" crawl and frenzy swim the first 24 hours, some resources citing only 30% approx survive the swim)
2. Beaks adapted to their diet, adapt to diet of grasses which were abundant and now limiting http://www.cccturtle.org/sea-turtle-info...
some diet flexibility so not limited to single food resource, http://www.platanias.info/seaturtle.htm direct pasted info below:
Like all reptiles, they are poikilotherms, which means that they use the heat of the environment as the main source of maintaining body heat
They resemble the primitive amphibians and birds in having only single small bone in the ear to conduct sound. Sea turtles are especially sensitive to low frequencies like ground vibrations and surf
They have lungs and breathe air
They lay their eggs on land
Their heart is divided into two auricles and one ventricle, resulting in incomplete double circulation, which means they can tolerate a fairly high level of carbon dioxide in their blood
Their body is protected in a horny shell. One exception is the leatherback sea turtle ( Dermochelys coriacea ) with its leathery skin shell covering.
The "soft" shell enabled larger body mass and growth, so despite no "hard" shell protection, the leatherback's larger size alone inhibits predation and other threats.
Well developed sense of smell to detect food.
Morphological adaptations for long-distance migration. Among these are streamlining of the body and [development of flippers] hypertrophy of the phalanges to form flippers. The body is tapered and has reduced head and limb pockets. These features reduce resistance through the water (drag) and hence reduce the costs of long-distance locomotion. http://www.arbec.com.my/sea-turtles/art1...
Lungs designed for rapid air exchange and "long breath holding" ability, oxygenation of body cells and systems. Hatchlings have varied oxygen consumption, less being ideal as they swim faster and further, need less air supply and less visits to the surface while swimming out to deeper and safer waters.
Behavioral adaptations also, but your Q specific for Physiological and morphological.
3. Climate, Food Resource Availability, Predation (including human on adult sea turtles and poaching eggs, our domestic cat "at large populations" predate hatchlings and eggs,as well as foxes, feral pig, mongooses, raccoons, armadillos etc), Resource competition, confusing females by lighting and road building/urban sprawl, Decreased Nest Survival rate due to factors in #4 below
4. Harvest for consumption, Illegal shell trade, commercial fishing, marine debris (i.e. plastic, garbage), artificial lighting, coastal armoring, beach nourishment/dredging, beach activities (i.e. human activity inhibits nesting), marine pollution, climate change (our effect upon the overall temperature of Earth and oceans)
From http://www.platanias.info/seaturtle.htm
Capture by fishermen for exploitation purposes (meat, accessories)
Poaching of eggs for consumption
By-catch in f
Sea Turtle Information link to left of each page on the Caribbean Conservation site
http://www.cccturtle.org/sea-turtle-info...
http://www.cccturtle.org/sea-turtle-info...
http://www.cccturtle.org/sea-turtle-info...
http://www.cccturtle.org/sea-turtle-info...
http://www.cccturtle.org/sea-turtle-info...
http://www.cccturtle.org/sea-turtle-info...
http://www.cccturtle.org/sea-turtle-info...
http://www.cccturtle.org/sea-turtle-info...