Archaeologists found the turtle which is believed to have lived around 7-13 million years ago.

Scientists have discovered new fossils of one of the world’s largest turtles, a car-sized reptile that prowled the lakes and rivers of what is now northern South America between 13 million and 7 million years ago.

The turtle’s fossils, Stupendemys geographicus, were discovered in Colombia’s Tatacoa Desert and Venezuela’s Urumaco region, and provide a comprehensive understanding of the creature, which grew to be 13ft (4 meters) long and 1.25 tons in weight.

Dermochelys coriacea marine leatherback turtle. Photo by Rabon David, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Male Stupendemys had strong front-facing horns on both sides of its shell, near to the neck. Deep scars found in the fossils suggested that these horns were used as a lance in battles with other Stupendemys males over mates or territory. Females lacked the horns.

Fighting is still common among living turtles, particularly among male tortoises, according to palaeontologist Edwin Cadena of the Universidad del Rosario in Bogotá, who led the study, which was published in the journal Science Advances.

Stupendemys is the second-largest known turtle, after the seagoing Archelon, which lived around 70 million years ago at the end of the dinosaur era and reached a length of about 15 feet (4.6 meters).

“Stupendemys geographicus was huge and heavy. The largest individuals of this species were about the size and length of a sedan automobile if we take into account the head, neck, shell and limbs,” Cadena said.

“Its diet was diverse, including small animals – fishes, caimans, snakes – as well as molluscs and vegetation, particularly fruits and seeds. Putting together all the anatomical features of this species indicates that its lifestyle was mostly in the bottom of large freshwater bodies including lakes and large rivers,” Cadena added.

Stupendemys – meaning “stupendous turtle” – inhabited a colossal wetlands system spanning what is now Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil and Peru before the Amazon and Orinoco rivers were formed.

Its massive size may have been important in fending off deadly predators. It lived with huge crocodilians such as the 36-foot-long (11-meter-long) caiman Purussaurus and the 33-foot-long (10-meter-long) gavial cousin Gryposuchus. A two-inch-long (5cm) crocodile tooth was discovered embedded in one of the Stupendemys fossils.

Src: kenhthoisu.net