Hawksbill sea turtle are taken by humans, though it is illegal to hunt them in many countries. In some parts of the world, hawksbill sea turtles are eaten as a delicacy. As far back as the fifth century BC, sea turtles, including the hawksbill, were eaten as delicacies in China. Many cultures also use turtles' shells for decoration. These turtles have been harvested for their beautiful shell since Egyptian times, and the material known as tortoiseshell is normally from the hawksbill. In China, where it was known as "tai mei", the hawksbill is called the "tortoise-shell turtle", named primarily for its shell, which
Hawksbill sea turtle tribe Chelonini, which includes the herbivorous green turtle. The hawksbill probably evolved from carnivorous ancestors. Linnaeus originally described the hawksbill sea turtle as "Testudo imbricata" in 1766, in the 12th edition of his "Systema Naturae". In 1843, Austrian zoologist Leopold Fitzinger moved it into genus "Eretmochelys". In 1857, the species was temporarily misdescribed as "Eretmochelys imbricata squamata". Two subspecies are accepted in "E. imbricata's" taxon. "E. i. bissa" refers to populations that reside in the Pacific Ocean. The Atlantic population is a separate subspecies, "E. i. imbricata". The nominate subspecies is the Atlantic taxon, because Linnaeus' type specimen was from