Modern-day marine turtles can get pretty big, but not hippopotamus-size big.
A newly discovered marine turtle dating to over 72 million years ago was an absolute unit.
Fossil evidence shows it could have reached 12.3 feet (3.74 meters) in length.
That’s well within hippo range, and makes it one of the largest marine turtles ever found.
A team of paleontologists with the Autonomous University of Barcelonapublished a studyon the fossil in Scientific Reports on Thursday.
The paper’s title refers to the extinct animal as “a gigantic bizarre marine turtle.”
The turtle’s size earned it the fitting name of Leviathanochelys aenigmatica.
That’s a reference to the massive mythological sea monster Leviathan.
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The fossil was excavated in fragments between 2016 and 2021 in Northeastern Spain.
Researchers found an almost complete pelvis and parts of the upper shell.
The turtle’s estimated size makes it the largest ever discovered in Europe.
Extinct turtles in other parts of the world were already known to grow to huge lengths.
Check outthis jumbo specimen from South America.
The largest living sea turtles areleatherbacks, which can reach 6 feet (1.8 meters) in length.
