Leviathanochelys aenigmatica art restoration (Credit: ICRA Arts). Photo courtesy of Springer Nature
Beijing, Nov. 18 (Reporter Sun Zifa) A new paleontological paper published by Springer Nature's open-access academic journal Scientific Reports believes that researchers found a fossil of a new ancient turtle species in Spain, which is estimated to be 3.74 meters long, which is the largest marine turtle found in Europe so far, and may also be one of the largest marine turtles ever found in the world.
The paper describes that the largest known marine turtles, such as the extinct ancient giant tortoise genus, can grow up to 4.6 meters long and weigh up to 3.2 tons, living in the oceans around the North American continent by the end of the Cretaceous period. In contrast, no known European marine turtle (extinct or extant) has shells longer than 1.5 meters.
Fossil specimen excavation site 1 for this study (Source: àngel Galobart). Photo courtesy of Springer Nature
Co-corresponding authors àngel H. Luján and Albert Sellés of the Institute of Paleontology in Catalonia, Spain, and colleagues describe a new fossil specimen of marine turtle species, named Leviathanochelys aenigmatica, found in northeastern Spain and close in size to the genus Paleomorphos. Excavated between 2016 and 2021, these fossilized remains consist of a broken but almost complete pelvis and a partial upper cap (shell) dating from about 83.1 million to 72.1 million years ago.
This fossil specimen has a distinctive bony protrusion that protrudes forward from the front of the pelvis. This characteristic that differs from other marine turtles suggests that Leviathanochelys aenigmatica represents a new taxon of ancient marine turtles. The authors believe that this protrusion may be related to the respiratory system.
Fossil specimen excavation site 2 for this study (Source: àngel Galobart). Photo courtesy of Springer Nature
Based on pelvic size, the authors calculated that Leviathanochelys aenigmatica could reach a body length of 3.74 meters. They estimated that the maximum pelvic width of this fossil specimen of ancient marine turtles was 88.9 cm, which is larger than the maximum estimate of the pelvis of the most famous specimen of the genus Giant Tortoise (81.0 cm wide); The length of the pelvis from front to back is estimated at 39.5 cm, slightly smaller than that of the genus Giant Tortoise (46.0 cm long). This makes Leviathanochelys aenigmatica the largest marine turtle found in Europe and one of the largest in the world.
The authors conclude that their findings show that the marine turtle's huge size develops independently in different clades in North America and Europe. (End)