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 اكتشاف بقايا سلحفاة بحرية عملاقة infographic
Graphic shows details of the discovery.
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اكتشاف بقايا سلحفاة بحرية عملاقة

By Jordi Bou

November 17, 2022 - اكتشف علماء حفرية يقولون إن عمرها 80 مليون سنة ويُعتقد أنها لواحدة من أكبر السلاحف البحرية على الإطلاق.

Writing in the journal Nature, Àngel H. Luján, Albert Sellés, and other colleagues from the Catalan Institute of Paleontology, describe the remains of the new specimen, which they name Leviathanochelys aenigmatica – found in the Cal Torrades locality, Catalonia, Spain.

The fossil, which dates to the Campanian Age, between 83.6 to 72.1 million years ago, consist of a fragmented but almost complete pelvis and parts of the upper shell (carapace).

Based on the size of the pelvis, the authors calculate that Leviathanochelys could have reached a body length of up to 3.74 metres, making the new species the largest marine turtle ever to have lived in Europe to date.

The largest known marine turtles such as the ancient extinct genus Archelon, which grew to sizes of 4.6 metres long and weighed up to 3.2 tonnes, lived in the seas surrounding the North American continent towards the end of the Cretaceous period.

The Leatherback turtle is the largest living turtle. The biggest specimen ever found measured 2.13 metres.

The new discovery suggest that gigantism in marine turtles developed independently in different lineages in both North America and Europe, the authors conclude.

Sources
PUBLISHED: 17/11/2022; STORY: Graphic News; PICTURES: CRA_Arts, Nature
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