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Archelons

Archelon (ARK-eh-lon) was huge marine turtle (a chelonian), the largest that has ever lived. Archelon, other turtles (chelonians) and reptiles may have descended from captorhinids, primitive anapsids that lived during the Early Carboniferous period, about 340 million years ago and went extinct at the end of the Triassic period, about 250 million years ago.

Archelons

More About Archelons

Archelon was a sea going turtle, related to present day Leatherback Sea Turtles. It measured more than 13.5 feet (4 metres) in length and about 16 feet wide from flipper to flipper. The shell of Archelon was not like that of modern-day turtles, it did not have the numerous shell bones. Archelon probably had a leathery covering or horny plates over a bony framework on its back. Archelon had a wide, flattened shell, paddle-like legs, a long, narrow head, weak jaws and a short, pointed tail.


Archelon had a solidly-roofed skull with no opening (except for eyes and nostrils). It swam using its paddle-like flippers and legs. The live weight of an Archelon is estimated at more than 4,500 pounds (2,200 kilograms).


Archelon was a carnivore (meat-eater). Because of its very weak jaws and toothless beak, it may have eaten jellyfish as its main diet. Archelon lived in the seas in what is now North America.


Fossils have been found in Kansas and South Dakota, USA. Its fossils date to 70 million years ago in the Cretaceous period, when a shallow sea covered most of central North America.

ARCHELON CLASSIFICATION:
Kingdom:
Animalia (animals)
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Reptilia
Order:
Testudines
Suborder:
Cryptodira
Family:
Protostegidae
Genus:
Archelon
Binomial Name:
Archelon ischyros

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