The Worlds Largest Species of Turtles and Tortoises
If you are thinking of getting a turtle or tortoise as a pet you might want to avoid this lot because they are the largest and heaviest species of turtles and tortoises in the world! While they are not as big as other land and sea animals they are still pretty impressive…
The Worlds Largest Species of Turtles and Tortoises
10 – Hawksbill Turtle – Average Weight: 68 KG – 150 Ib
The hawksbill sea turtle is a critically endangered sea turtle belonging to the family Cheloniidae. It is the only extant species in the genus Eretmochelys.
9 – Flatback Turtle – Average Weight: 84 KG – 185 Ib
The Australian flatback sea turtle is a sea turtle located along the sandy beaches and shallow coastal waters of Australia. They can only be found in the waters around the Australian continental shelf.
Black Sea Turtle
8 – Black Sea Turtle – Average Weight: 126 KG – 278 Ib
The black sea turtle or Pacific green turtle is a large sea turtle of the family Cheloniidae. It is the only species in the genus Chelonia. Its range extends throughout tropical and subtropical seas around the world, with two distinct populations in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, but it is also found in the Indian Ocean.
7 – Alligator Snapping Turtle – Average Weight: 183 KG – 403 Ib
The alligator snapping turtle is a species of turtle in the family Chelydridae, native to freshwater habitats in the United States. M. temminckii is one of the heaviest freshwater turtles in the world.
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Galapagos Giant Tortoise
6 – Galapagos Giant Tortoise – Average Weight: 385 KG – 849 Ib
The closest living relative (though not a direct ancestor) of the Galápagos giant tortoise is the Chaco tortoise (Chelonoidis chilensis), a much smaller species from South America.
5 – Loggerhead Turtle – Average Weight: 386 KG – 850 Ib
The loggerhead sea turtle, or loggerhead, is an oceanic turtle distributed throughout the world. It is a marine reptile, belonging to the family Cheloniidae.
Aldabra Giant Tortoise
4 – Aldabra Giant Tortoise – Average Weight: 408 KG – 900 Ib
The Aldabra giant tortoise from the islands of the Aldabra Atoll in the Seychelles, is one of the largest tortoises in the world. Historically, giant tortoises were on many of the western Indian Ocean islands, as well as Madagascar, and the fossil record indicates giant tortoises once occurred on every continent and many islands with the exception of Australia and Antarctica.
Green Sea Turtle
3 – Green Sea Turtle – Average Weight: 408 KG – 900 Ib
Unlike most sea turtles, adult green turtles are herbivorous, feeding on sea grasses and algae. Juvenile green turtles, however, will also eat invertebrates like crabs, jellyfish, and sponges.
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Atlantic Leatherback Turtle
2 – Atlantic Leatherback Turtle – Average Weight: 454 KG – 1,000 Ib
The leatherback sea turtle, sometimes called the lute turtle or leathery turtle or simply the luth, is the largest of all living turtles and is the fourth-heaviest modern reptile behind three crocodilians.
Pacific Leatherback Turtle
1 – Pacific Leatherback Turtle – Average Weight: 864 KG – 1,908 Ib
Pacific leatherbacks divide into two populations. One population nests on beaches in Papua, Indonesia, and the Solomon Islands, and forages across the Pacific in the Northern Hemisphere, along the coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington in North America. The eastern Pacific population forages in the Southern Hemisphere, in waters along the western coast of South America, nesting in Mexico, Panama, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. Estimates by the WWF suggest only 2,300 adult females of the Pacific leatherback remain, making it the most endangered marine turtle subpopulation.