HELL'S SHELLS
‘Mega turtles�?TWICE as big as humans with ‘weaponised shells�?to defeat sex rivals 5million years ago found
THE FOSSILS of giant turtles twice the size of a human and 100 times heavier than their closest relative have been discovered in South America.
The huge shells would have belonged to turtles that lived in a humid swamp five to ten million years ago.
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Stupendemys geographicus is an ancient species of turtle that was first described by academics in the mid-1970s.
Researchers from the University of Zurich along with experts from Colombia, Venezuela, and Brazil have recently found impressive specimens of this extinct creature in new locations across Venezuela and Colombia.
Study leader Marcelo Sánchez said: "The carapace of some Stupendemys individuals reached almost three meters, making it one of the largest, if not the largest turtle that ever existed."
Experts have estimated the turtle's body mass at 1,145kg, which is almost 100 times larger than the big-headed Amazon river turtle, its closest living relative.
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The researchers noticed that some of the shells had horns.
Sánchez said: "The two shell types indicate that two sexes of Stupendemys existed - males with horned shells, and females with hornless shells."
This is apparently the first example of sexual dimorphism or clear visual differences between the sexes of side-necked turtles dead or alive.
The fossils also had bite marks and evidence of punctured bones, suggesting they still had predators despite their huge size.
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The new discoveries have indicated that these giant creatures lived across a much larger area of South America than previously thought.
They have also helped scientists piece together more of the turtle evolutionary tree.
Sánchez concluded: "Based on studies of the turtle anatomy, we now know that some living turtles from the Amazon region are the closest living relatives."
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Longest living animals
Here's a list of creatures that were around for a very long time...
- The oldest living human on record was Jeanne Louise Calment who lived to the ripe old age of 122 years and 164 days
- A spider named Number 16 lived until it was 43 years old
- The oldest cat on record lived to 38 years old
- The longest living gold fish was won at a funfair and lived until 43 years old
- Bowhead whales are famed for being the longest living mammal species on Earth with the oldest one living to 211 years old
- A few years ago fishermen caught a Greenland shark which was around 512 years old
Incredibly rare two-headed albino turtle worth $32,000 can't find an owner over fears it might not live very long
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In other archaeology news, researchers have found the skulls of human-sized rats that lived 10million years ago.
A new species of dinosaur related to T-Rex has been identified.
And, the skeleton of a Royal Navy sailor who died on a tiny island 300 years ago has been unearthed.
What do you think of this giant turtle discovery? Let us know in the comments...
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