Researchers have discovered, in the Spanish Pyrenees, the fossilized remains of a giant sea turtle, about 4 meters long!
Imagine a sea turtle the size of a car, swimming peacefully in the waters of this arm of sea that separates the Iberian continent from Eurasia, some 80 million years ago. This is the table I just reproduced Paleontologists After the discovery of fossil remains of a tortoise of unusual proportions in the Spanish Pyrenees.
To date, the largest fossilized specimen of sea turtles has been discovered in North America: 4.6 meters long and about 3.2 tons, this monster belongs to the genus Archelon He lived at the end of the Cretaceous period. So far, no specimen discovered in Europe has been able to rival it.
Discover the largest specimen of sea turtle in Europe
But the remains discovered in the region of Cale Torredes, in the southeast of the Spanish Pyrenees, could indicate that in this part of the globe, too, giant tortoises roamed the warm waters of this sea bordering the northern part of Iberia. Prevent. From before mountain range formation.
However, it will be a new, hitherto unknown species. name of the thing Leviathanochelys aenigmaticaThis turtle was about 4 meters long. It would have lived in the Campanian, at the end of the Cretaceous period, between 83.6 and 72.1 million years ago. fossil, which was updated between 2016 and 2021, is not complete. It consists of part of the pelvis and part of the carapace. Based on the size of the pelvic bones, the scientists were able to estimate the specimen’s original wingspan. The results have been published in the journal Scientific reports.
Until now, Fossil turtles have been found in Europe It did not exceed 1.5 meters in length. By comparison, this new specimen acts as a behemoth and ranks among the largest sea turtles ever found.
