Turtles survived the massive extinction event that took out the dinosaurs more than 60 million years ago. But climate change, habitat loss and exploitation from the commercial pet industry have now decimated global turtle populations.
Of the 356 turtle species scientists know about today, more than half are endangered or have already gone extinct. As their numbers continue to decline, scientists say their loss will alter ecosystems around the world.
Turtles were once abundant reptiles. For example, researchers estimate tens of millions of sea turtles inhabited the Caribbean Sea a couple hundred years ago, but now their numbers are 1,000 times fewer. And the Aldabra giant tortoises that live on the islands of the Aldabra Atolls in the Seychelles, an island group off East Africa, were once thought to contribute more biomass to their habitat than herds of grazing herbivores do on Africa’s Serengeti.
Jeff Lovich is a research ecologist ...
