‘Because they are still living, turtles are commonplace objects to us were they extinct, their shells - the most remarkable armour ever assumed by a tetrapod (4 legged) animal – would be a cause for wonder’. The internationally respected biologist Dr Alfred Sherwood Romer wrote in 1933: They have broad, flattened ribs that are joined to each other and are fused to the spine, and a broad bony plate under their bodies, producing a bony case that completely encloses everything except the turtle’s limbs and head. Sea turtles evolved about 150 million years ago, in the age of the Dinosaurs, and their body design has been so successful that they have changed little since then. The shell is covered by soft skin, giving the turtle’s shell a smooth, leathery appearance, unlike most other sea turtles which have overlapping, hardened scale-like 'scutes,' like roof tiles, covering their upper surface. The top of the shell (carapace) is olive coloured and it is creamy yellow underneath.
The East Coast population is estimated to be about 1000 turtles, the Whitsunday Region may support nesting for around 10% of this population.įlatbacks have a distinctive, low-domed shell with upturned edges. Six separate populations of Flatback turtles have been identified.
This makes them very dependant on local habitats for feeding and nesting. They are primarily home-bodies, with the shortest migrations of any sea turtle, although some can move up to 1300km to breed. They live in coastal waters in soft sediment habitats such as seagrass beds, at depths of 6-35m, where they feed on soft bodied animals, including soft corals, sea pens, sea cucumbers, jellyfish, prawns and molluscs. Flatbacks feed along the Australian coast north of the Tropic of Capricorn and beyond to Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. They only nest on the beaches and islands of Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia. The IUCN lists Flatback turtles as ‘Data Deficient’ which means that not enough information is available about this elusive species, which is listed as Vulnerable in Queensland and nationally.įlatback turtles are endemic to Australia they only breed in Australia and unlike many sea turtles, most remain on the Australian Continental shelf throughout their life-cycle. This comes from the very low-domed shape of the Flatback’s shell.įlatback turtles were once thought to be closely related to Green turtles and used to be included in the same scientific genus, but they are now the only species in the genus Natator. The Flatback turtle's scientific name, Natator depressus, comes from the Latin for ‘natator’ meaning swimmer, and ‘depressus’ meaning flat.
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