Abstract
The loggerhead turtle, Caretta caretta (Linn.), on hatching weighs about 20 gm. and its carapace measures approximately 4.8 cm. in length by 3.5 cm. in width. An individual reared in confinement at Key West, Florida, when 4 1/2 years old, weighed 37 kgm., or a little over 1/4 the average adult weight. Its carapace measured 63 cm. in length and 59 cm. in width. Its rate of growth was several times more rapl.d than that shown by 3 other loggerhead turtles reared under almost similar conditions. Even these lower rates, however, indicate that turtles grow to maturity much more rapl.dly than is generally supposed.

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