Prehistoric Period
Within the grand scheme of Earth's history, the Lepidochelys kempii, or Kemp's ridley sea turtle, is a very recent species. Although it lacks the status of a truly prehistoric species—one that lived during the Jurassic or other very old geological periods—its forebears may be found in the extensive evolutionary tree of sea turtles, which spans over 100 million years.
About 100 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous era, the ancestors of current sea turtles emerged. At this point in time, turtles on land began to diverge from their marine relatives. These extinct reptiles likely evolved traits that helped them thrive in the water, including flippers and a more streamlined physique, according to fossil evidence. These alterations paved the way for the diversification of sea turtle species, which includes Kemp's ridley, as we know them today.
It is thought that Kemp's ridley sea turtles developed very recently, during the past few million years, according to geologists. Genetic research indicates that this species evolved from a common ancestor with the olive ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea), with which it has a tight evolutionary connection. Geographical isolation and different climatic circumstances probably caused this split, which resulted in the formation of different species.
Because sea turtles often do not fossilize well owing to their aquatic environment and the nature of their shells, there is a poor fossil record for Lepidochelys kempii in particular. But we can learn more about their evolutionary pedigree from morphological and genomic data. These turtles' principal habitats have been the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, where they have evolved over millennia.
Natural selection and environmental influences have molded the evolutionary past of Kemp's ridley sea turtles, giving rise to their present-day unique habits and traits. Thousands of females come ashore at once to deposit eggs in a unique nesting activity called "arribada," which has probably evolved to improve the hatchling survival rate. When compared to other sea turtle species, this one nests in a group.
The Kemp's ridley and other modern marine turtles have to deal with problems that their ancient counterparts didn't have to. Some examples of these include habitat loss, pollution, changing temperature, and bycatch in fishing activities, all of which are caused by humans. Conservation efforts now are focused on reducing these risks and safeguarding the species by expanding our knowledge of their ecological needs and evolutionary background.
