Prehistoric ‘car-sized’ sea turtle discovered by scientists 

We humans are all fascinated by turtles. After all, they are like reptiles (cold-blooded vertebrates) but exhibit the characteristics of amphibians (those who can operate on both land and water). However, that isn’t all. They are one of the slowest moving creatures on Earth and are characterised by a very distinct protective shell enclosing their bodies.  

Recently, a species of long-extinct turtle has been discovered by scientists from fossil evidence unearthed near northern Spain, the prehistoric existence of which has so far remained unknown. This ‘car-sized’ ancient turtle is the largest of its kind and weigh around two tonnes, with a whooping length of 12 feet.  

This newly found species of prehistoric and gigantic marine turtle has been named as Leviathanochelys aenigmatica. While the Leviathan part refers to its humongous body size, “chelys” refers to turtle. In contrast, “Aenigmatica” literally translates to enigma and is symbolic of the animal’s unique characteristics. The findings of the research have been published in the journal named Scientific Reports.  

Wondering what they are? Well, for starters, the turtle has an “exceedingly large pelvis and shell reduction in the carapace,” features that are unlikely for sea turtles. Moreover, the turtle also has an unusual bone bulging out from the side of its pelvis which hasn’t been noticed before in any known dead or living turtles. In fact, the feature appears to be linked to muscles that might have helped the creatures breathe deep under water.  

Now comes the question, when did the prehistoric animal live? Well, that would be 72 million years ago in the Campanian Age (part of the late Cretaceous Epoch). Experts also believe that the turtle’s unique characteristics had to do with the age they belonged to, as it was the time when European waters were filled with marine predators such as sharks and mosasaurs, making other creatures such as this turtle species develop predatory tendencies as well. Interestingly, when sources say “car-sized,” they mean that these creatures were the size of a Mini Cooper. How fascinating is that!  

The report proves that what researchers earlier thought isn’t entirely true, and gigantic marine turtles not only existed in North America but also in Europe. In addition, this new finding also sheds light on the evolution of turtles since the dawn of time. It proves the idea that normal, mammoth-sized turtles were more susceptible to extinction in comparison to present-day normal sized turtles.  

What’s more interesting about this latest discovery is that, it was totally accidental. While hiking across the Pyranees Mountain in northern Spain, a hiker stumbled upon some bone fragments and wired the news to local museums in early 2021. Thereafter, the Catalonian Department of Culture collected the remains and analysed them recently.