These trackways preserve an incredibly brief moment in time. More importantly, they tell us about ancient climates, and how turtle breeding ranges have changed over the millenia
Scientists are raising Miami blue butterflies in captivity and reintroducing them in south Florida.
Jeff Gage/Florida Museum of Natural History
How do you pack butterflies for shipping, or frogs for an overland hike to a new habitat? Three scientists explain how they keep threatened species safe on the road and in the air.
Swordfish only – no bycatch, please.
Joe Fish Flynn/shutterstock
Autopsies of 1,000 turtles washed up on Australian beaches paint a grim picture of the impact of plastic debris. Even a single piece can be deadly, and on average 14 pieces equals a 50% fatality rate.
Soft tumors make life hard for sea turtles.
Jessica Farrell
Sea turtles contend with a contagious disease that causes debilitating tumors. Genetic analysis is helping researchers figure out precision medicine-based treatments for the turtles.
Green sea turtle.
Miroslav Halama/shutterstock.com
Little chunks of plastic are now scattered throughout the oceans and pollute most beaches around the world, including the nesting sites of threatened and endangered sea turtles.
Green sea turtle eating seagrass off Lizard Island.
Abbi Scott
New research highlights the role of sea turtles and dugong in the dispersal of seeds and maintenance of seagrass meadows, an important marine habitat and the primary food source for both animals.
A Kemp’s ridley hatchling makes its way to the water on Padre Island, Texas.
Terry Ross
During sea turtle nesting season, scientists collect data and assess how turtles are doing. But they know less about how plastic pollution, fishing and warming oceans are affecting turtle numbers.
If frogs can glow in the dark and cockroaches can change history, why couldn’t dog-birds exist?
Chris Goldberg / flickr
Climate change and tourism development in Mexico are altering the country’s shoreline, endangering the habitat of sea turtles. But tourists prefer pristine, natural beaches, too.
Hey, is there something on my back?
Nathan J. Robinson
Tiny animals along for the ride, called epibionts, could be used as living data-loggers. Researchers can glean info from them that could help inform turtle-friendly fisheries management decisions.
A study has shown that turtle hatchlings lend each other a flipper digging out of the sand to save energy.
Banco de Imagem Projeto Tamar/Flickr
Immersion in seawater kills sea turtle eggs, suggesting that sea turtles are increasingly at risk from rising seas, according to research published today in Royal Society Open Science.
A leatherback sea turtle pauses for air on its long migration.
Connie Merigo (NMFS Permit #1557-03)
Vanessa Bezy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Turtle development is affected by low oxygen in the nest, new research carried out in Costa Rica shows. And there are lessons for conservation globally.
Open wide: don’t be fooled by the appearance of a Leatherback’s mouth, they eat only jellyfish.
Tom Doyle
Going to the beach this summer? If you’re in southern Australia, keep your eyes peeled for the world’s largest turtle, the leatherback. If you do, you can report sightings to researchers at Deakin University…
Green turtles can travel immense distances using stored fat reserves.
R.D Kirkby & B.S Kirkby
A satellite-tracking study of green turtles in the Indian Ocean has rewritten the record books for long-distance marine animal migration, showing that they can travel some 4000 kilometres without stopping…
Is climate change good or bad news for sea turtles?
djblock99/Flickr
You might have seen in recent news that climate change may increase the size of some sea turtle populations, by increasing the number of female turtles. These studies hinge on an unusual trait of sea turtles…