File:Cold-blooded vertebrates- part I. Fishes (1930) (20474698810).jpg

Title: Cold-blooded vertebrates: part I. Fishes
Identifier: coldbloodedverte08hild (find matches)
Year: 1930 (1930s)
Authors: Hildebrand, Samuel F. (Samuel Frederick), 1883-1949; Gilmore, Charles Whitney, 1874-; Cochran, Doris M. (Doris Mable), 1898-1968
Subjects: Fishes; Amphibians; Reptiles
Publisher: (New York, Smithsonian institution series, inc. )
Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Smithsonian Libraries

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Text Appearing Before Image:
REPTILES The "leatherback" (Dermochelys coriacea) represents a very aberrant group of marine turtles (Fig. 82). Its most striking characteristic is the tough, leathery body covering from which it takes its name and which is composed of a mosaic of hundreds of bony plates, embedded in and cov- ered by the skin. Seven longitudinal ridges of the larger
Text Appearing After Image:
Fig. 82. The leatherback, Dermochehs coriacea^ largest of living turtles, eight teet long and weighing 1,500 pounds plates rise on the back and converge at the tail end of the shell, while five more ridges occur on the ventral portion. As noted, this is the only turtle which has the ribs and vertebrae free from the carapace. The leatherback has the distinction of being the largest of living turtles, sometimes reaching a length of eight feet and weighing 1,500 pounds. In the sea it proves itself a most graceful and agile swimmer. It may be seen in shallow waters, poised, ready to swoop down on any morsel it may chance to spy on the sandy bottom, just as a vulture drops down from the sky to seize its prey. Any marine turtle seen gliding a little below the surface of the water, with outstretched flippers, appears as swift and graceful as a bird soaring in the air on spread wings; while the same creature on shore will move so awkwardly and slowly that it may be overtaken and captured without difficulty. Fortunately for their safety, sea turtles spend (310I

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