Leatherback Sea Turtle vs Sword Fern

Dermochelys coriacea compared with Nephrolepis exaltata

Key Differences

Leatherback Sea Turtle is Vulnerable while Sword Fern is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Leatherback Sea Turtle	Sword Fern
Kingdom	Animalia (Animals)	Plantae (Plants)
Phylum	Chordata (Chordates)	Tracheophyta
Class	Reptilia (Reptiles)	Polypodiopsida (Polypodiopsida)
Order	Testudines (Turtles & Tortoises)	Polypodiales (Polypodiales)
Family	Cheloniidae (Sea Turtles)	Nephrolepidaceae
Genus	Chelonia (Green Sea Turtles)	Nephrolepis
Species	Dermochelys coriacea	Nephrolepis exaltata

Conservation Status

Leatherback Sea Turtle

VU — Vulnerable

Population: ~35.0K

Trend: Decreasing ↓

Sword Fern

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Leatherback Sea Turtle	Sword Fern
Diet	Carnivore	—
Average Lifespan	50 years	—
Average Length	2.0 m	—
Average Weight	500.0 kg	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Leatherback Sea Turtle

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, and tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas, among 5 distinct biome types spanning the Australasia and Indomalayan and Neotropic realms. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Distributed across Costa Rica, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Trinidad and Tobago. Currently classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Sword Fern

Habitat

Typically found in moist, shaded forest floors and tropical canopies.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania), Asia (Turkey), Europe (Portugal, Spain), North America (Cuba), Oceania and the Pacific (6 countries), and South America (Brazil, Colombia).