Olive ridley sea turtle
species of turtle
The olive ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea), also known commonly as the Pacific ridley sea turtle, is a species of turtle in the family Cheloniidae. The species is the second-smallest and most abundant of all sea turtles found in the world. L. olivacea is found in warm and tropical waters, primarily in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, but also in the warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
This turtle and the related Kemp's ridley sea turtle are best known for their unique synchronised mass nestings called arribadas, where thousands of females come together on the same beach to lay eggs.
Taxonomy
The olive ridley sea turtle may have been first described as Testudo mydas minor by Georg Adolf Suckow in 1798. It was later described and named Chelonia multiscutata by Heinrich Kuhl in 1820. Still later, it was described and named Chelonia olivacea by Johann Friedrich von Eschscholtz in 1829. The species was placed in the subgenus Lepidochelys by Leopold Fitzinger in 1843. After Lepidochelys was elevated to full genus status, the species was called Lepidochelys olivacea by Charles Frédéric Girard in 1858. Because Eschscholtz was the first to propose the specific epithet olivacea, he is credited as the binomial authority or taxon author in the valid name Lepidochelys olivacea (Eschscholtz, 1829).
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The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q282385. The Library of Congress control number is sh85076059. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1798, 1820, 1829 and 1843.
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This entry incorporates text from “Olive ridley sea turtle” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.