Sea Turtles

Sea Turtles, written by Keira Freed, illustrated by Cindy Hill.

《海龟》，作者：凯拉·弗里德，插画：辛迪·希尔

Introduction. Sea turtles have roamed the oceans for at least 150 million years. They are among Earth's oldest surviving animals, having lived during the time of the dinosaurs. Like dinosaurs, sea turtles are reptiles, and like all reptiles, sea turtles are cold -blooded. They have scaly skin, breathe air, and have a heart with three chambers.

介绍 海龟已经在海洋中遨游了至少一亿五千万年 它们是地球上现存最古老的动物之一，和恐龙生活在同一个时代 和恐龙一样，海龟也是爬行动物，和所有爬行动物一样，海龟是冷血动物 它们长着带鳞片的皮肤，呼吸空气，拥有三个心腔的心脏

Sea turtles have many living turtle relatives, including freshwater turtles, snapping turtles, tortoises, and soft -shelled turtles. All of these turtles live either on land or in freshwater. Sea turtles are the only turtles that live in the salt water of the world's oceans.

海龟有很多现存的龟类亲戚，包括淡水龟、鳄龟、陆龟和软壳龟 这些龟要么生活在陆地，要么生活在淡水中 海龟是唯一生活在全球海洋咸水中的龟类

Types of sea turtles Sea turtles are divided into two types. One type, called the leatherback, is covered with leathery skin. Beneath this skin is a shell made of cartilage and thousands of tiny bones. The cartilage forms prominent ridges that give the leatherback its unique appearance. The leatherback is the largest of all sea turtles and the most widely distributed. It lives far out at sea, except during breeding season.

海龟的种类 海龟一共分为两类 其中一类叫棱皮龟，全身覆盖着革质皮肤 这层皮肤下方是由软骨和数千块细小骨头组成的龟壳 软骨形成了清晰的棱脊，让棱皮龟拥有独一无二的外形 棱皮龟是所有海龟中体型最大、分布最广的一种 除繁殖季外，它们都生活在远海区域

All types of sea turtles, other than the leatherback, have a shell made of bony plates or scutes. The top part of the shell is called the carapace. The part of the shell under the turtle's belly is called the plastron. These two parts are connected to the muscles and bones inside the turtle's body. The number and pattern of the scutes is helpful in identifying the type of sea turtle.

除棱皮龟外，其他所有海龟的龟壳都由骨板（盾片）构成 龟壳的上半部分叫做背甲 龟壳在海龟腹部下方的部分叫做腹甲 这两个部分都和海龟体内的肌肉、骨骼相连 盾片的数量和纹路可以帮助我们区分海龟的种类

The green turtle is a medium to large sea turtle with a shell that has modelled markings. The green turtle's head is small relative to its body when compared with other sea turtles. It lives in many oceans around the world. The black turtle is sometimes called the Pacific green turtle. Researchers disagree on whether it is a type of green turtle. The black turtle is dark grey with stripes of other dark colours. It lives on the west coasts of North and South America. The black turtle prefers to live in warm bays and protected shores, and is rarely found in the open ocean.

绿海龟是中大型海龟，龟壳上带有独特清晰的纹路 和其他海龟相比，绿海龟的头相对于自身体型更小 它们生活在全球的许多海域中 黑海龟有时也被叫做太平洋绿海龟 研究人员还没确定它是否属于绿海龟的一种 黑海龟整体呈深灰色，带有其他深色的条纹 它们生活在北美洲和南美洲的西海岸 黑海龟更喜欢栖息在温暖海湾和受庇护的海岸，很少出现在开阔大洋