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Lepidochelys kempii GARMAN, 1880

IUCN Red List - Lepidochelys kempii - Critically Endangered, CR
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Higher TaxaCheloniidae, Testudines (turtles) 
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Atlantic Ridley, Kemp’s Ridley Seaturtle
G: Atlantik-Bastardschildkröte 
SynonymLepidochelys kempii (GARMAN 1880)
Testudo viridi-squamosa LACÉPÈDE 1788 (nomen oblitum)
Testudo mydas minor SUCKOW 1798 (nomen oblitum)
Chelonia dussumierii DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1835: 557
Thalassochelys (Colpochelys) kempii GARMAN 1880
Thalassochelys kempii — BOULENGER 1889
Lepidochelys kempii — BAUR 1890
Lepidochelys olivacea kempi — SCHMIDT 1953
Lepidochelys kempi — ENGELMANN et al 1993
Lepidochelys kempii — LINER 1994
Lepidochelys kempii — CONANT & COLLINS 1991: 77
Lepidochelys kempii — CROTHER 2000
Lepidochelys kempii — BONIN et al 2006 
DistributionCarribean Sea, Atlantic Ocean (EC/NE/NW/WC),

occasionally on the coasts of France, Spain, England (incl. Channel islands: Jersey), Italy, Portugal

Africa: Mauritania,

Canada, USA (chiefly gulf of Mexico: Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Atlantic coast as far north as New England and Nova Scotia: Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine)
SE Mexico (Yucatan), Colombia [Castro,F. (pers. comm.)],

Type locality: restricted to Key West, Florida (by SMITH & TAYLOR 1950). Map legend:
TDWG region - Region according to the TDWG standard, not a precise distribution map.

NOTE: TDWG regions are generated automatically from the text in the distribution field and this does not always work properly. We are working on it.
 
Types 
CommentThe Kemp’s ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys kempii) was thought to have been a
hybrid of the loggerhead (Caretta) and either the hawks-bill (Eretmochelys) or green (Chelonia) sea turtles (see Carr, 1942). Today we know that L. kempii is a
distinct and valid species (Bowen, Meylan & Avise). However, BARBER et al. (2003) confirmed natural hybridization between a Kemp’s ridley (Lepidochelys kempii) and loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) by molecular analysis.

Reproduction: Lepidochelys kempii has temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD, STANDORA & SPOTILA 1986, SARRE et al. 2004).

Nomenclature: see Opinion 660 (ICZN 1963) for nomenclatural issues.

Habitat: marine.

Conservation status: critically endangered 
References
  • BARBER, R.C.; CLARK T. FONTAINE; JOSEPH P. FLANAGAN AND EDWARD E. LOUIS, JR. 2003. Natural hybridization between a Kemp’s ridley (Lepidochelys kempii) and loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) confirmed by molecular analysis. Chelonian Conserv. Biol. 4 (3): 701
  • Berroneau, M. et al. 2010. Guide des Amphibiens et Reptiles d’Aquitaine. Association Cistude Nature, 180 pp.
  • Bonin, F., Devaux, B. & Dupré, A. 2006. Turtles of the World. English translation by P.C.H. Pritchard. Johns Hopkins University Press, 416 pp.
  • Boundy, Jeff; Frank T. Burbrink, Jonathan A. Campbell, Brian I. Crother, Kevin de Queiroz, Darrel R. 2012. Standard Common and Current Scientific Names for North American Amphibians, Turtles, Reptiles, and Crocodilians, Seventh Edition. SSAR, 101 pp.
  • Bowen, B.W. & Karl, S.A. 2007. Population genetics and phylogeography of sea turtles. Molecular Ecology 16: 4886–4907
  • Bowen, Brian W.;Meylan, Anne B.;Avise, John C. 1991. Evolutionary distinctiveness of the endangered Kemp's ridley sea turtle Nature 352: 709-711
  • Brongersma, L.D. 1972. European Atlantic turtles. Zoologische Verhandelingen (121): 365 pp. - get paper here
  • Caillouet, Charles W.; Donna J. Shaver, André M. Landry, David W. Owens, and Peter C. H. Pritchard 2011. Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle (Lepidochelys kempii) Age at First Nesting Chelonian Conservation and Biology Dec 2011, Vol. 10, No. 2: 288-293. - get paper here
  • Carr, A. 1942. Notes on sea turtles. Proc. New England Zool. Club 21: 1–16.
  • Conant,R. & Collins,J.T. 1991. A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern/Central North America, 3rd ed. Houghton Mifflin (Boston/New York), xx + 450 p.
  • Dixon, James R. 2000. Amphibians and reptiles of Texas, second edition. Texas A&M University Press, 421 pp.
  • Duméril, A.M.C., and G. Bibron. 1835. Erpétologie Générale ou Histoire Naturelle Complète des Reptiles, Vol. 2. Librairie Encyclopédique de Roret, Paris, iv + 680 p. - get paper here
  • Engelmann,W.E. et al. 1993. Lurche und Kriechtiere Europas. Neumann Verlag (Radebeul, Germany), 440 pp.
  • Ernst, Carl H.; Lovich, Jeffrey E. 2009. Turtles of the United States and Canada, 2nd edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, 827 pp.
  • Ernst,C.H. and Barbour,R.W. 1989. Turtles of the World. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C. - London
  • Frazer, J.F.D. 1949. The reptiles and amphibia of the Channel Isles, and their distribution. British Journal of Herpetology 1: 51-53
  • Garman,S. 1880. On certain species of Chelonioidae. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard 6: 123-126 - get paper here
  • Holder, Kristina and Mark Holder. 2007. Phylogeography and population genetics. In Biology and Conservation of Ridley Sea Turtles, edited by Pamela T. Plotkin, pp. 107-117. The Johns Hopkins University Press
  • Hughes, B. 1986. Longevity Records of African Captive Amphibians and Reptiles: Part 1: Introduction and Species List 1 - Amphibians and Chelonians Jour. Herp. Ass. Afr. (32): 1-5 - get paper here
  • Hunter, M.L., Jr., Albright, J., & Arbuckle, J., eds. 1992. The amphibians and reptiles of Maine. Maine Agric. Experiment Station, Orono, Bull. 838 188 pp.
  • Innis, Charles; Michael Tlusty, Christopher Perkins, Steven Holladay, Constance Merigo, and E. Scott 2008. Trace Metal and Organochlorine Pesticide Concentrations in Cold-Stunned Juvenile Kemp's Ridley Turtles (Lepidochelys kempii) from Cape Cod, Massachusetts Chelonian Conservation and Biology 7(2): 230
  • Insacco, Gianni; Filippo Spadola 2010. First record of Kemp’s ridley sea turtle, Lepidochelys kempii (Garman, 1880) (Cheloniidae), from the Italian waters (Mediterranean Sea). Acta Herpetologica 5 (1): 113-117 - get paper here
  • Köhler, G. 2000. Reptilien und Amphibien Mittelamerikas, Bd 1: Krokodile, Schildkröten, Echsen. Herpeton Verlag, Offenbach, 158 pp.
  • Lee, J. C. 2000. A field guide to the amphibians and reptiles of the Maya world. Cornell University Press, Ithaca,
  • Malkmus,R. 1995. Die Amphibien und Reptilien Portugals, Madeiras und der Azoren. Die Neue Brehm-Bücherei, Bd. 621. Westarp Wissenschaften (Magdeburg)/Spektrum Akademischer Verlag (Heidelberg)
  • Marquez, M. Rene, Patrick M. Burchfield, Juan Diaz-F, Manuel Sanchez-P, Miguel Carrasco-A, Carmen Ji 2005. Status of the Kemp's Ridley Turtle (Lepidochelys kempii). Chelonian Conserv. Biol. 4 (4): 761-766.
  • McCord, W.P. & Joseph-Ouni, M. 2003. Chelonian Illustrations #8. Sea turtles of the world. Reptilia (GB) (28): 34-38 - get paper here
  • Meylan, Peter A.; Anne B. Meylan, and Jennifer A. Gray 2011. The Ecology and Migrations of Sea Turtles 8. Tests of the Developmental Habitat Hypothesis. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History (357): 1-70 - get paper here
  • Mitchell, J. C. & Reay, K.K. 1999. Atlas of amphibians and reptiles in Virginia. Specialty Publication 1, VA Dept of Game and Fisheries, 122 pp. - get paper here
  • Mitchell, J.C. 1994. The reptiles of Virginia. Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, ca. 350 pp.
  • Naro-Maciel, Eugenia; Minh Le, Nancy N. FitzSimmons and George Amato 2008. Evolutionary relationships of marine turtles: A molecular phylogeny based on nuclear and mitochondrial genes. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 49 (2): 659-662 - get paper here
  • Padial, J. M. 2006. COMMENTED DISTRIBUTIONAL LIST OF THE REPTILES OF MAURITANIA (WEST AFRICA). Graellsia, 62(2): 159-178
  • Palmer, W.M. & Braswell, A.L. 1995. Reptiles of North Carolina. Univ. North Carolina Press
  • Parker, G.H. 1925. THE TIME OF SUBMERGENCE NECESSARY TO DROWN ALLIGATORS AND TURTLES. Occas. Pap. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist. 5: 157-159
  • Pritchard, Peter C.H. 2007. Evolutionary relationships, osteology, morphology and zoogeography of Ridley sea turtles. In, Biology and Conservation of Ridley Sea Turtles, edited by Pamela T. Plotkin, pp. 45-57. The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore
  • Sindaco, R. & Jeremcenko, V.K. 2008. The reptiles of the Western Palearctic. Edizioni Belvedere, Latina (Italy), 579 pp.
  • Standora EA, Spotila JR. 1985. Temperature-dependent sex determination in sea turtles. Copeia 1985 (3): 711–722. - get paper here
  • Tonge, S. 1986. The herpetofauna of Jersey. British Herpetological Society Bulletin (17): 18-21
  • Wallace, Bryan P.; Andrew D. DiMatteo, Alan B. Bolten, Milani Y. Chaloupka, Brian J. Hutchinson, F. 2011. Global Conservation Priorities for Marine Turtles. PLoS ONE 6(9): e24510. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0024510 - get paper here
  • Wilson R V; Zug G R 1991. Lepidochelys kempii (Garman). Kemp's Ridley sea turtle, tortuga lora. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles No. 509: 1-8 - get paper here
  • Zug G R; Ernst C H 1994. Lepidochelys Fitzinger, Ridley sea turtles. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles 587: 1-6 - get paper here
  • Zug, G.R. 2009. Reptiles (Vertebrata: Reptilia) of the Gulf of Mexico. In: Felder, D.L. & Camp, D.K. (eds.) Gulf of Mexico Origin, Waters, and Biota, Vol. 1. Texas A&M University Press, 1317-1320
 
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