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(Leathery Turtles.)

In this and the following Family, the carapace is very much depressed, and their two pairs of feet, which are of unequal length, are flattened into the form of oars or solid fins, their toes being ​united so as to be scarcely distinguishable, and incased in the common integument. They all inhabit the ocean, which they never leave except for the purpose of depositing their eggs.

The Sphargidæ, or Leatherbacks, have the bony structure of the carapace and plastron invested with a leathery skin instead of horny plates. In the young animal this is tuberculous, but in adults it is smooth, though marked with several ridges, slightly serrated, which run down through the whole length of the carapace and plastron.