List of reptiles of the Atlantic Ocean
The reptiles that inhabit the Atlantic Ocean include six species of sea turtles.[1] In addition, two species of crocodiles regularly venture into saltwater thanks to lingual glands that allow them to excrete salt.[2][3]
Finally, some other species of crocodilians, caimans, and alligators that live in the freshwater and brackish coastal waters of the Americas and Africa can temporarily enter the saltwater of the Atlantic Ocean.[4]
Order: Testudines
Family: Dermochelyidae
- Genus: Dermochelys
- Leatherback sea turtle, Dermochelys coriacea VU
Family: Cheloniidae
- Genus: Caretta
- Loggerhead sea turtle, Caretta caretta VU
- Genus: Chelonia
- Green sea turtle, Chelonia mydas LC
- Genus: Eretmochelys
- Hawksbill sea turtle, Eretmochelys imbricata CR
- Genus: Lepidochelys
- Kemp's ridley sea turtle, Lepidochelys kempii CR
- Olive ridley sea turtle, Lepidochelys olivacea VU
Order: Crocodilia
Family: Crocodylidae
- Genus: Crocodylus
- American crocodile, Crocodylus acutus VU
- Nile crocodile, Crocodylus niloticus LC
See also
References
- ^ Huang, Hsiang-Wen (12 August 2015). "Conservation Hotspots for the Turtles on the High Seas of the Atlantic Ocean". PLOS ONE. 10 (8) e0133614. Bibcode:2015PLoSO..1033614H. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0133614. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 4534298. PMID 26267796.
- ^ Platt, Steven G.; Thorbjarnarson, John B.; Rainwater, Thomas R.; Martin, David R. (March 2013). "Diet of the American Crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) in Marine Environments of Coastal Belize". Journal of Herpetology. 47 (1): 1–10. doi:10.1670/12-077. ISSN 0022-1511.
- ^ Leslie, Alison J; Spotila, James R (1 July 2000). "Osmoregulation of the Nile crocodile, Crocodylus niloticus, in Lake St. Lucia, Kwazulu/Natal, South Africa". Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Molecular & Integrative Physiology. 126 (3): 351–365. doi:10.1016/S1095-6433(00)00215-4. ISSN 1095-6433. PMID 10964030.
- ^ Taplin, Laurence; Grigg, Gordon C.; Beard, Lyn A (January 1985). "Salt gland function in fresh water crocodiles: Evidence for a marine phase in Eusuchian evolution?". The Biology of Australasian Frogs and Reptiles.