Jurassic June: Archelon

Name: Archelon (Ark-kay-lon)

Which Means: "Ruling turtle"

Archelon was the largest turtle to have ever been discovered. It swam the great seas during the Late Cretaceous Period, approximately 80-74 million years ago. This extinct species grew to about 16 feet in length from head to tail, and weighed about 4900 pounds.

This behemoth swam the shallow waters of the Western Interior Seaway, a large inland sea that once separated North America into two continents, Laramidia and Appalachia. It likely fed off of small fish, squid, and jellyfish like modern sea turtles. It also shared its habitat with other marine life, such as various species of sharks and fish, and even larger marine reptiles such as the long-necked plesiosaur Elasmosaurus and the fearsome mosasaur Tylosaurus.

It was originally believed that the leatherback sea turtle, which is the largest modern turtle, was this animal's closet living relative. It's hard not to see why. The resemblance to both Archelon and the leatherback sea turtle is uncanny. Later studies revealed that it was actually part of a separate extinct family called Protostegidae, which consisted of other extinct members such as Protostega and Desmatochelys.

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