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Reptilia
Testudines
Cheloniidae
Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle
Lepidochelys kempii
(Garman, 1880)
lep-eh-doe-SHEL-ees — kemp-EE-ai
SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
There are no current SSAR comments for this taxon.
Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2023.09.05.08.24.00)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file:
- 0.21 MB
Province/State Distribution:
USA:
Alabama
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Mississippi
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
North Carolina
Rhode Island
South Carolina
Texas
Virginia
First instance(s) of published English names:
Bastard Logerhead
(
Thalassochelys kempi
: Yarrow, Henry C.
1882
. Check list of North American Reptilia and Batrachia with catalogue of specimens in U. S. National Museum. Bulletin of the United States National Museum (24):1-249);
Kemp's Loggerhead
(
Colpochelys kempi
: Brimley, Clement S.
1915
. List of reptiles and amphibians of North Carolina. Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society 30(4):195-206);
Ridley
(
Lepidochelys olivacea kempi
: Schmidt, Karl P.
1953
. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.);
Atlantic Ridley
(
Lepidochelys olivacea kempi
: Schmidt, Karl P.
1953
. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.);
Bastard Turtle
(
Lepidochelys olivacea kempi
: Schmidt, Karl P.
1953
. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.);
Kemp’s Ridley Seaturtle
(
Lepidochelys kempii
: Hedges, S. Blair, Robert Powell, Robert W. Henderson, Sarah Hanson, and John C. Murphy.
2019
. Definition of the Caribbean Islands biogeographic region, with checklist and recommendations for standardized common names of amphibians and reptiles. Caribbean Herpetology (67):1–53);
Taxon Links:
Catalog of American Amphibians and Reptiles
The Reptile Database
NatureServe
iNaturalist
GenBank
USGS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database
Selected References:
1880
Garman, Samuel.
On certain species of Chelonidae.
Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology (6):123-126
1991
Wilson, Robert V. and Zug, George R.
Lepidochelys kempii
Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (509):1-8
1994
Zug, George R. and Ernst, Carl H.
Lepidochelys
Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (587):1-6
2007
Bowen, B. W. and S. A. Karl.
Population genetics and phylogeography of sea turtles.
Molecular Ecology 16(23):4886-4907
2019
Hedges, S. Blair, Robert Powell, Robert W. Henderson, Sarah Hanson, and John C. Murphy.
Definition of the Caribbean Islands biogeographic region, with checklist and recommendations for standardized common names of amphibians and reptiles.
Caribbean Herpetology (67):1–53
THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed:
Thursday 05 June 2025 19:48
CT