Everything about Archelon totally explained
» ARCHELON is also a sea-turtle conservation society, see ARCHELON, the Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece
Archelon is a genus of extinct
sea turtle, the largest that has ever been documented. The largest
Archelon fossil, found in the Pierre Shale of
South Dakota in the 1970s, measures more than 13.5 feet (4 meters) long, and about 16 feet wide from flipper to flipper. It was a seagoing turtle, related to present day
Leatherback Sea Turtles. Its fossils date to 70 million years ago in the
Cretaceous period, when a shallow sea covered most of central
North America. Most of the known remains have been found in
South Dakota,
Kansas, and
Nebraska. Though anatomically similar to the earlier species
Protostega gigas, it was much larger.
Biology
Unlike most modern turtles, Archelon didn't have a solid shell, but instead had a skeletal framework supporting a leathery or bony carapace. Other distinguishing features include a pointed tail, a narrow skull, a relatively narrow, high-vaulted shell, and a pronounced overbite. They probably had a very strong bite, and were optimized for feeding on
pelagic mollusks such as
squid. Some specimens, such as the one owned by the National Natural History Museum in
Vienna, apparently died while
brumating on the ocean floor. This same specimen also suggests a century-long
life span.
The live weight of an
Archelon ischyros is estimated at more than 4,500 pounds (2200 kilograms).
Popular Culture
-
- Dinozaurs
- Archelon appeared in the Walking with Dinosaurs spinoff special Sea Monsters.
Gallery
Image:Cretaceous seaway.png|Map of North America during the Cretaceous period.
Image:Archelon skeleton.jpg|Skeleton held in Yale University
Further Information
Get more info on 'Archelon'.
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