It can easily be differentiated from other modern sea turtles by its lack of a bony shell; instead, its carapace is covered by oily flesh and flexible, leather-like skin, for which it is named.

[9] Domenico Agostino Vandelli named the species first in 1761 as Testudo coriacea after an animal captured at Ostia and donated to the University of Padua by Pope Clement XIII.

[21][22] Instead of teeth, the leatherback turtle has points on the tomium of its upper lip, with backwards spines in its throat (esophagus) to help it swallow food and to stop its prey from escaping once caught.

[25][26] The largest verified specimen ever found was discovered on the Pakistani beach of Sandspit and measured 213 cm (6.99 ft) in CCL and 650 kg (1,433 lb) in weight.

[24] D. coriacea exhibits several anatomical characteristics believed to be associated with a life in cold waters, including an extensive covering of brown adipose tissue,[31] temperature-independent swimming muscles,[32] countercurrent heat exchangers between the large front flippers and the core body, and an extensive network of countercurrent heat exchangers surrounding the trachea.

[34] The sutures connect rigid elements and flexible joints in a zig-zag configuration, so there is no region where teeth can easily penetrate the carapace.

[36] Leatherbacks have been viewed as unique among extant non-avian reptiles for their ability to maintain high body temperatures using metabolically generated heat, or endothermy.

[37] However, recent studies using reptile representatives encompassing all the size ranges leatherbacks pass through during ontogeny discovered the resting metabolic rate of a large D. coriacea is not significantly different from predicted results based on allometry.

Coupled with their countercurrent heat exchangers, insulating fat covering, and large size, leatherbacks are able to maintain high temperature differentials compared to the surrounding water.

Of all the extant sea turtle species, D. coriacea has the widest distribution, reaching as far north as Alaska and Norway and as far south as Cape Agulhas in Africa and the southernmost tip of New Zealand.

Unlike other sea turtles, leatherback feeding areas are in colder waters, where an abundance of their jellyfish prey is found, which broadens their range.

[50] Off the Atlantic coast of Canada, leatherback turtles feed in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence near Quebec and as far north as Newfoundland and Labrador.

[51] The most significant Atlantic nesting sites are in Suriname, Guyana, French Guiana in South America, Antigua and Barbuda, and Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean, and Gabon in Central Africa.

[47][52] Off the northeastern coast of the South American continent, a few select beaches between French Guiana and Suriname are primary nesting sites of several species of sea turtles, the majority being leatherbacks.

One population nests on beaches in Papua, Indonesia, and the Solomon Islands, and forages across the Pacific in the Northern Hemisphere, along the coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington in North America.

[51] Estimates by the WWF suggest only 2,300 adult females of the Pacific leatherback remain, making it the most endangered marine turtle subpopulation.

Scientists tracked a leatherback turtle that swam from Jen Womom beach of Tambrauw Regency in West Papua of Indonesia to the US in a 20,000 km (12,000 mi) foraging journey over a period of 647 days.

[64][65] They are also believed to feed on small crustaceans (amphipods and crabs), fish (possibly symbiotes with jellies), sea urchins, snails, seagrasses, and algae.

[70] Ingestion of marine debris and slowed nutrient gain leads to increased time for sexual maturation that may affect future reproductive behaviors.

[71] These turtles have the highest risk of encountering and ingesting plastic bags offshore of San Francisco Bay, the Columbia River mouth, and Puget Sound.

Eggs may be preyed on by a diversity of coastal predators, including ghost crabs, monitor lizards, raccoons, coatis, dogs, coyotes, genets, mongooses, and shorebirds ranging from small plovers to large gulls.

The Seri people, from the Mexican state of Sonora, find the leatherback sea turtle culturally significant because it is one of their five main creators.

Leatherbacks have slightly fewer human-related threats than other sea turtle species, however, turtle-fishery interactions may play a larger role than previously recognized.

On Florida's Atlantic coast, some beaches with high turtle nesting density have lost thousands of hatchlings due to artificial light.

Different life stages of dead individuals from the western Atlantic Ocean were used to test the concentrations of various contaminants found in the salt glands and red blood cells.

[118] Earthwatch Institute, a global nonprofit that teams volunteer with scientists to conduct important environmental research, launched a program called "Trinidad's Leatherback Sea Turtles".

It is also the site of one of the most important nesting beaches for endangered leatherback turtles, enormous reptiles that can weigh a ton and dive deeper than many whales.

[119] Several Caribbean countries started conservation programs, such as the St. Kitts Sea Turtle Monitoring Network, focused on using ecotourism to highlight the leatherback's plight.

The Parismina Social Club is a charitable organization backed by American tourists and expatriates, which collects donations to fund beach patrols.

[52] In mid-2007, the Malaysian Fisheries Department revealed a plan to clone leatherback turtles to replenish the country's rapidly declining population.