Sea turtle (sea turtle) - Marine turtle (English spelling)

Japanese: ウミガメ(海亀) - ウミガメ（英語表記）marine turtle

A general term for marine turtles with flattened, paddle-shaped limbs. They are divided into the Cheloniidae family and the Dermochelyidae family. They are widely distributed in tropical and subtropical waters around the world, and also migrate to temperate regions, including the waters off Japan. They are a completely marine species, only coming onto land during the spawning season, although green turtles are known to come to the sandy beaches of uninhabited islands to sunbathe. There are various theories on the classification of living sea turtles, but the most widely supported idea is that the family Chelonidae is divided into two subfamily Cheloninae and Loggerheadinae based on skeletal differences, with the former including two species, the green turtle Chelonia mydas (illustration) and the Australian green turtle C. depressa , and the latter including four species, the loggerhead turtle Caretta caretta (illustration), the olive ridley turtle Lepidochelys olivacea , Kemp's ridley turtle L. kempii , and the hawksbill turtle Eretmochelys imbricata (illustration).

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

四肢が櫂（かい）状に扁平となった海洋性のカメ類の総称。ウミガメ科Cheloniidaeとオサガメ科Dermochelyidaeとに分かれる。世界の熱帯，亜熱帯の海域に広く分布し，日本近海を含む温帯地方にも回遊する。完全な海生種で，陸地には産卵期しか上陸しないが，アオウミガメが日光浴のため無人島の砂浜にやってくることが知られている。現生のウミガメ類の分類には諸説があるが，ウミガメ科を骨格の違いでアオウミガメ亜科とアカウミガメ亜科の2グループに分け，前者にはアオウミガメChelonia mydas（イラスト）とオーストラリアアオウミガメC.depressaの2種，後者にはアカウミガメCaretta caretta（イラスト），ヒメウミガメLepidochelys olivacea，ケンプヒメウミガメL.kempiiおよびタイマイEretmochelys imbricata（イラスト）の4種を含む考え方が支持されている。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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