x
Breaking News
More () »

Car-sized turtle fossils found in South America

The turtle is called "Stupendemys geographicus" and it lived between 13 and 7 million years ago.
Credit: Deb Whiteside

NEIVA, Huila — That's one big turtle.

Paleontologists have unearthed the fossils of a turtle the size of a car in South America, BBC reported.

Called the Stupendemys geographicus, the prehistoric giant's fossils were found in Colombia's Tatacoa Desert and Venezuela's Urumaco region.

The turtle dwelled at the bottom of lakes and rivers in the area between 13 and 7 million years ago.

The discovery helps shed light on the species, which has remained mysterious since the first fossils were discovered in the 1970s. The males had forward-pointing horns on either side of its shell. A shell, which measures in at 3-meters long.

And if that mental picture wasn't crazy enough, one of the fossils was found with a crocodile tooth embedded into the shell.

Just imagine how big that must have made the crocodiles.

What other people are reading right now:

FREE 10NEWS APP: 

Download on the App StoreGet it on Google Play

Stay In the Know! Sign up now for the Brightside Blend Newsletter

Before You Leave, Check This Out