The leatherback sea turtle is the largest species of turtle in existence. The specimen displayed, which is of inestimable historic and scientific value, was captured in 1760 off the coasts of Rome and donated to the then Pope, Clement XIII, who had studied in Padua and, before being elected Pontiff, had also been bishop of this same city. It was therefore natural that Clement XIII would in turn pass the curious creature on to his alma mater. It was brought to the Palazzo del Bo in procession and handed over with solemn ceremony to Antonio Vallisneri the younger, then Prefect of the Laboratory of Natural Sciences. A detailed description of the animal was sent to Carl Linnaeus, the renowned Swedish physician and naturalist, whose system of classification and nomenclature for living beings is still used today. Linnaeus included the species in the 13th edition of his Systema Naturae (1766). The name attributed, Testudo coriacea, indicates that its carapace, rather than being a hard bony shell like that of other turtles and tortoises, consisted of small plates bound together by a leather-like skin. Our specimen is therefore a holotype of the species, now with a specific name in its genus — Dermochelys coriacea — and will remain the scientific reference for that species for future generations.
