November 17 () –
A new species of sea turtle fossil from 83 million years ago has been discovered in the Pyrenees. It is estimated that the specimen measured 3.7 meters, the largest found in Europe.
The study on the new species, Leviathanochelys aenigmatica, has been published in Scientific Reports by research staff from the Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont and other institutions.
Its scientific name means “the enigmatic leviathan turtle”, in reference to Leviathan –a biblical marine beast of enormous dimensions- due to the peculiar skeletal characteristics of this animal, which perplexed the paleontologists who excavated it.
“The surprise was huge. The truth is that the remains of marine reptiles in the Pyrenees are not common, and less of these dimensions,” he explains. it’s a statement Oscar Castillo, researcher at the Miquel Crusafont Catalan Institute of Paleontology (ICP) and the Conca Dellà Museum (MCD), who signs the research article.
The fossil remains of this reptile, of which only part of its shell and pelvis are known, allow estimating a total length of the shell of 3.7 meters long. It is the largest sea turtle in Europe and the second in the world, second only to the North American genus Archelon, which was up to four and a half meters long. “The morphology of the fossils was also very curious, in the research process we were clear that it was a new species for science,” says the paleontologist.
The scientific study suggests that Leviathanochelys is one of the oldest representatives of the Chelonioidea, the group that includes all living sea turtles. Beyond its colossal dimensionsthe new species of turtle presents protrusions in the front part of the pelvis never seen in any other turtle, neither terrestrial nor marine.
The research team believes that these bony projections, linked to the muscles that controlled the contraction of the animal’s belly, they could have participated in functions related to the respiratory system of Leviathanochelys.
The anatomical features of this new species suggest that it had a pelagic lifestyle and was capable of reaching great depths.
