Turtle Tattle!

The article enlightens us about one of the oldest species on the planet, and warns us about the mistakes that could endanger them.

Humans have been familiar with sea turtles for centuries. In Hindu mythology, the god Vishnu incarnated as a turtle to support the world during the churning of the ocean of milk, and he is still known as the 'World Turtle'. In native American mythology, North America is called Turtle Island. Most of the creation myths of the Native American people tell that the earth was created from some mud laid on the back of a giant turtle and that the earth is still carried on its back. Also, when the giant turtle stretches, it causes earthquakes.

Sea turtles are a group of reptiles that have been around in the world's oceans for more than a 100 million years. Even the earliest known sea turtle fossils are more than 100 million years old and date from the Jurassic era. And, yes, they have been living around dinosaurs.

Sea turtles, sometimes called marine turtles, come from the Chelonioidae or Dermochelyidae family, a sub-order of Cryptodira in the order Testudines of Class Reptilia. According to scientists, there are currently seven living species of sea turtles on the planet. They are the Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas), Hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata), Loggerhead (Caretta caretta), Olive Ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea), Kemp's Ridley (Lepidochelys kempii), Flatback (Natator depressus), and Leatherback Sea Turtle (Dermochelys coriacea). Six of them are considered to be on the threatened list of the IUCN.

Leatherback sea turtles are the only extant members of the family Dermochelyidae. It was listed in the United States under the Endangered Species Act as endangered in 1970. The International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species categorized it as "Vulnerable A2bd" in 2013. It has a decreasing population trend.