The fossils of one of the largest turtles that ever lived in the lakes and rivers of the Earth and was the size of a car, were discovered by paleontologists in South America.
It is Stupendemys that lived seven to 12 million years ago and was three to four meters long, while weighing around 1.25 tons, having about 100 times the weight of today's Amazonian turtle, which is about half a meter long. The males - but not the females - were equipped for battle, as they bore horns. in their shell, near the neck.
The researchers, led by paleontologist Edwin Cadena of the University of Bogotá, who made the relevant publication in the journal "Science Advances", discovered the fossils in the Tatacoa desert of Colombia and the Urumaco region of Venezuela, according to Reuters and the British " Independent".
Stupendemys is the second largest known turtle after the marine Archelon, which lived about 70 million years ago, at the end of the dinosaur era, and reached a length of 4.6 meters. The first fossil remains of Stupendemys were discovered in the 1970s, but the new fossils shed more light on the prehistoric animal.
Among other things, a 2.4 meter long shell was discovered, the largest turtle shell ever found in the world. The freshwater turtle fed on small animals, snakes, fish, mollusks, fruits, seeds, etc.
The tropical and swampy area where it lived, in addition to present-day Colombia and Venezuela, included Brazil and Peru, before the great rivers Amazon and Orinoco were formed. The turtle coexisted in a dangerous environment with other predators, such as giant crocodiles and alligators (caimans) 12 meters long.