The 2,000-pound leatherback is the fourth-largest reptile. Leatherback turtles can grow up to eight feet long. Unlike other reptiles, leatherback turtles use thermoregulation to warm up or cool down.

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about biodiversity and the hidden quirks of the natural world. The leatherback sea turtle offers a rare look into ...

The protected nest is a rare wildlife milestone on a restricted military shoreline. It also raises a bigger question: whether unusual nesting records are isolated surprises or signs of shifting ...

Fewer than 1,000 leatherback sea turtles remain in the Eastern Pacific, nesting along the coastline that runs from Mexico to Ecuador. Scientists have previously fitted tracking devices to leatherbacks ...

In 2026, biologists at Cape Hatteras National Seashore have already found four nests from endangered leatherback sea turtles. That single-season figure equals the combined total recorded there over ...

Leatherback sea turtles start life the same size as other sea turtles. As they age, however, they grow progressively larger. These giants of the reptile world are relics from the Late Triassic and the ...