Sri Lanken wild turtule

Today, there are 250 species of turtles on earth. Seven of these live in the ocean and are called sea turtles. The remaining 243 species live on land or in freshwater ponds and marshes. The terrestrial turtles live solely on land and are called tortoises. Five of the seven species of sea turtles in the world visit the shores of Sri Lanka to breed. They are the Green Turtle (Chelonia mydas), Hawksbill Turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata), Olive Ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea), Loggerhead (Caretta caretta) and Leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea). The sea turtles are called Kesbawa in Sinhala and Amai in Tamil. There are three species of freshwater turtles and one terrestrial tortoise in Sri Lanka. The freshwater turtles are Parker’s Black Turtle (Melanochelys trijuga pakeri) Sri Lanka Black Turtle (Melanochelys trijuga thermalis) and the Soft or Flapshell turtle (Lissemys punctata punctata). The terrestrial tortoise is the Star tortoise (Geochelone elegans). The shells of the turtles and tortoises