the.com/loggerhead
A turtle that navigates oceans by reading Earth's magnetic field like a tattooed map.
means A loggerhead is a large sea turtle with an oversized blocky head, though the word also lingers in the phrase 'at loggerheads,' meaning two parties locked in stubborn disagreement.
from From 'logger,' an old dialect word for a heavy block of wood, joined to 'head' — so a 'loggerhead' was literally a blockhead, a thick or stupid person. The name passed to the turtle for its big lumpish skull, and to an iron tool with a heavy ball end used for heating tar and melting pitch. Sailors are sometimes credited with the phrase 'at loggerheads' by way of brawling with these tools, but that connection is uncertain; more likely the expression simply leans on the older sense of thick-headed obstinacy.
- magnetic gps
- Senses latitude and longitude via geomagnetic cues
- natal return
- Females nest on the exact beach they hatched
- jaw power
- Crushes conchs and clams with bone-cracking bite
- epic swim
- Hatchlings cross entire ocean basins before adulthood
- name origin
- Means thick-headed, also old slang for blockhead
loggerhead sea turtle — caretta caretta, found in all oceans, named for its disproportionately large head
loggerhead shrike — lanius ludovicianus, north american bird that impales prey on thorns
loggerhead musk turtle — sternotherus minor, freshwater turtle species in southeastern united states