# Green turtle (*Chelonia mydas*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/green-turtle  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The green turtle (Chelonia mydas) is a species in the family Cheloniidae. It has been recorded in 149 countries, most often in Australia, Réunion and United States. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | Not recorded |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Lifespan | Not recorded |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | Not recorded |
| Young per litter or clutch | Not recorded |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Recorded in | 149 countries |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Testudines
- family: Cheloniidae
- genus: Chelonia
- species: *Chelonia mydas* (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms: *Caretta cepedii*, *Caretta esculenta*, *Caretta spec*, *Caretta thunbergi*, *Chelone mydas*, *Chelonia agassizii*, *Chelonia agassizzii*, *Chelonia albiventer*, *Chelonia bicarinata*, *Chelonia castanea*, *Chelonia formosa*, *Chelonia grisea*, *Chelonia japonica*, *Chelonia lachrymata*, *Chelonia lata*, *Chelonia maculosa*, *Chelonia marmorata*, *Chelonia tenuis*, *Chelonia virgata*, *Chelonia viridis*, *Euchelonia midas*, *Euchelus macropus*, *Mydas viridis*, *Mydasea mydas*

## Where it has been recorded

Countries with openly licensed sighting records on GBIF (records in brackets). Recorded sightings, not a definitive range.

Australia (67350), Réunion (27884), United States (21917), Brazil (16089), United Arab Emirates (6359), Taiwan (3609), Ecuador (2134), Cameroon (1241), Mexico (1115), Oman (980), Tanzania (815), Costa Rica (703), Japan (592), Philippines (562), Indonesia (433), St. Helena (431), Togo (312), Suriname (289), Malaysia (285), Seychelles (261), India (244), France (229), Guadeloupe (190), Venezuela (168), Norfolk Island (167), New Caledonia (136), Martinique (130), Puerto Rico (128), Egypt (122), Colombia (117), Panama (114), Iran (107), Pakistan (97), French Polynesia (95), Mayotte (83), Eritrea (79), Vietnam (79), Caribbean Netherlands (71), French Guiana (64), U.S. Virgin Islands (62), Northern Mariana Islands (61), Benin (57), Papua New Guinea (56), Madagascar (47), Sri Lanka (41), Bahamas (39), Maldives (38), Solomon Islands (36), Guam (33), Qatar (33), Thailand (33), Mauritania (31), New Zealand (31), Portugal (31), China (28), Marshall Islands (28), Ghana (27), Chile (26), Kenya (26), Comoros (25), and 89 more

## Common questions

### Where does the green turtle live?

The green turtle has openly licensed sighting records from 149 countries on GBIF. The most records come from Australia, Réunion, United States, Brazil and United Arab Emirates. These are recorded sightings, not a definitive range.

### Is the green turtle endangered?

The green turtle is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

## Sources

- [GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://www.gbif.org/dataset/d7dddbf4-2cf0-4f39-9b2a-bb099caae36c), CC BY 4.0, live API 2026-11-11. GBIF Secretariat. GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org.
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/), CC0 1.0, live API 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata, the free knowledge base.
- [GBIF occurrence aggregates (CC0 and CC BY records only)](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search), CC BY 4.0, live API 2026-11-11. GBIF.org occurrence search, country facet counts restricted to CC0 1.0 and CC BY 4.0 records.
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/), Per file, live API 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Licence and creator recorded per file.
- [English Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/), CC BY-SA 4.0, live API 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.

Cite as: Green turtle (Chelonia mydas). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/green-turtle