‘Gigantic and bizarre’ turtle that was as long as Volkswagen Beetle found in Europe
.png "A new species of marine turtle was just discovered in Spain, according to researchers. Leviathanochelys aenigmatica, named after a biblical monster, was over 12 feet in length and lived in the waters off of Europe 70 million years ago.")
A colossal species of turtle was just discovered in Spain.
The creature could grow to be double the size of a leatherback turtle, the largest living turtle species, and it is one of the largest marine turtles ever found, researchers say.
Like many great paleontological discoveries, including one of the world’s largest dinosaur graveyards, the creature’s remains were happened upon by chance. A hiker found bone fragments belonging to the now extinct animal in the mountains of northern Spain several years ago, according to a release from the Natural History Museum in London.
Staff from a nearby museum and the Catalonian Department of Culture then recovered the bones, but they were not studied for years, the release stated.
But in 2021, the remains were reexamined and a team began excavating the site, which led researchers to unearth the pelvis and carapace, or shell, of a massive, previously unknown turtle, according to the release.
The animal was named Leviathanochelys aenigmatica in a nod to a leviathan, an aquatic biblical beast, the release stated.
The name was appropriate as the sea-dwelling animal had “colossal body size proportions” and could grow up to 12 feet in length, or about the length of a Volkswagen Beetle or two king-sized beds, according to the release. It likely preyed on molluscs and jellyfish.
This finding refutes an earlier belief that ancient, giant turtle species were only present in North America, according to the release, and also provides new insight into the evolutionary process.
“It adds another piece to the puzzle of trends in the evolution of turtles,” Dr Sandra Chapman, the museum’s former curator of fossil reptiles and birds, stated in the release. “It supports the idea that extreme sizes are more common prior to an extinction and smaller, but still substantial, sizes predominate afterwards.”
A detailed description of the newly discovered species was published in the journal Scientific Reports.
This story was originally published November 18, 2022 at 5:29 PM with the headline "‘Gigantic and bizarre’ turtle that was as long as Volkswagen Beetle found in Europe."