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Science 1 September 1972:
Vol. 177. no. 4051, pp. 791 - 793
DOI: 10.1126/science.177.4051.791
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Articles

Body Temperature of Dermochelys coriacea: Warm Turtle from Cold Water

Wayne Frair 1, R. G. Ackman 2, and N. Mrosovsky 3

1 Department of Biology, The King's College, Briarcliff Manor, New York 10510
2 Halifax Laboratory, Fisheries Research Board of Canada, Halifax, Nova Scotia
3 Departments of Zoology and Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario

The deep body temperature of a leatherback turtle, Dermochelys coriacea, taken out of cold water, was 18°C above the water temperature. A large size favoring heat retention from muscular activity is probably responsible for this differential. Cooling rates (k) in water, measured on a second animal, were in the order of 0.001°C per minute per degree of difference between body and ambient temperature.


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