Archelon
Archelon | |
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Mounted cast at the University of Manitoba | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Order: | Testudines |
Suborder: | Cryptodira |
Family: | †Protostegidae |
Genus: | †Archelon Wieland, 1896 |
Species: | †A. ischyros
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Binomial name | |
†Archelon ischyros Wieland, 1896
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Archelon is an extinct marine turtle from the Late Cretaceous, and is the largest turtle ever to have been documented, with the biggest specimen measuring 4.6 m (15 ft) from head to tail and 2.2–3.2 t (2.4–3.5 short tons) in body mass. It is known only from the Pierre Shale and has one species, A. ischyros. In the past, the genus also contained A. marshii and A. copei, though these have been reassigned to Protostega and Kansastega, respectively. The genus was named in 1895 by American paleontologist George Reber Wieland based on a skeleton from South Dakota, who placed it into the extinct family Protostegidae. The leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) was once thought to be its closest living relative, but now, Protostegidae is thought to be a completely separate lineage from any living sea turtle.
Archelon had a leathery
Taxonomy
Research history
The
In 1900, Wieland described a second species, A. marshii, from remains collected in 1898 by American paleontologist
Evolution
The
Protostegidae | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Archelon with some protostegids[19] |
Description
The holotype measures 352 cm (11.5 ft) from head to tail, with the head measuring 60 cm (2 ft), the
Archelon had a distinctly elongated and narrow head. It had a defined hooked beak which was probably covered in a sheath in life, reminiscent of the beaks of
Five neck vertebrae were recovered from the holotype, and it probably had eight in total in life; they are X-shaped, procoelous–concave on the side towards the head and convex on the other–and their thick frame indicates strong neck muscles. Ten thoracic vertebrae were found, increasing in size until the sixth then rapidly decreasing, and they have little connection with the carapace. The three vertebrae of the sacrum are short and flat. It probably had eighteen tail vertebrae; the first eight to ten (probably in the same area as the carapace) had neural arches, whereas the remaining did not.[5] Its tail likely had a wide range of mobility, and the tail is thought to have been able to bend at nearly a 90° angle horizontally.[23]
The humeri in the upper arms are proportionally massive, and the radii and ulnae of the forearms are short and compact, indicating the animal had strong flippers in life. The flippers would have had a spread of between 490 and 610 cm (16 and 20 ft), though most likely the more conservative estimate.[24] Stretch marks on the limb bones indicate fast growth,[25] with similarities to the leatherback sea turtle, the fastest growing turtle known,[26] whose juveniles have an average growth rate of 8.5 cm (3.3 in) per year.[25]
Carapace
The carapace comprises on either side eight neuralia–the plates closest to the midline–and nine pleuralia–the plates that connect the midline to the ribs. The plates of the carapace are mostly uniform in dimensions, with the exception of the two pairs of plates corresponding to the eighth thoracic vertebra which are smaller than the others, and the pygal plate closest to the tail which is larger. Archelon has ten pairs of ribs, and, like the leatherback sea turtle but unlike other sea turtles, the first rib does not meet the first pleural. As in sea turtles, the first rib is noticeably shorter than the second, in this case, three quarters of the length. The second to fifth ribs project at a right angle from the midline, and, in the holotype, each measure 100 cm (3.3 ft) in length. A rib increases in thickness in the vertical direction
The neuralia and pleuralia form highly irregular and finger-like sutures where they meet, and one plate may have lain over the other plate while the bone was still developing and malleable. The neuralia and pleuralia–the bony portions of the carapace–are particularly thin, and the ribs, especially the first rib, and the shoulder girdle are unusually heavy and may have had to carry extra stress to compensate, a condition seen in ancient ancestral turtles.[24][11] Archelon has osteosclerotic structures, where the bone is dense and heavy, which probably served as ballasts in life similar to the limb bones of whales and other open-ocean animals.[27]
The carapace, in life, probably featured a row of ridges along the midline over the
Plastron
A turtle plastron, its underside, comprises (from head-most to tail-most) the epiplastron, the entoplastron, which is small and wedged in between the former and the hyoplastron; then is the hypoplastron and finally, the xiphiplastron. The plastron, as a whole, is thick,[23] and measures (in a specimen described in 1898) 210 cm (7 ft) in length.[11] Unlike the carapace, it features striations throughout.[28]
In protostegids, the epiplastron and entoplastron are fused together, forming a single unit called an "entepiplastron" or a "paraplastron." This entepiplastron is T-shaped, as opposed to the Y-shaped entoplastrons in other turtles. The top edge of the T rounds off, except at the center which features a small projection. The outward side is slightly convex and bends somewhat, away from the body. The two ends of the T flatten out, getting broader and thinner, as they get farther from the center.[28]
A thick, continuous ridge connects the hyoplastron, hypoplastron, and xiphiplastron. The hyoplastron features a large number of spines projecting around the circumference. The hyoplastron is slightly elliptical, and grows thinner as it gets farther from the center, before the spines erupt. The spines grow thick and narrow towards their middle portion. The seven to nine spines projecting towards the head are short and triangular. The six middle spines are long and thin. The last 19 spines are flat. There are no marks indicating contact with the entepiplastron. The hypoplastron is similar to the hyoplastron, except it has more spines, a total of 54.[28] The xiphiplastron is boomerang-shaped, a primitive characteristic in contrast to the straight ones seen in more modern turtles.[23]
Paleobiology
Archelon was an
Archelon probably had weaker arms, and thus less swimming power, than the leatherback sea turtle, and so did not frequent the open ocean as much, preferring shallower, calmer waters. This is indicated by the similarity of the humerus/arm and hand/arm ratios of it and cheloniids, which are known to have poor development of the limbs into flippers and a preference for shallow water.[30] Conversely, the large flipper-to-carapace ratio of protostegids and the similarly large flipper spread, like that of the predatory cheloniid loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta), combined with a broad body, indicate they could have pursued active prey, though they probably could not have sustained high speeds.[31] Overall, it may have been a moderately-good swimmer, capable of open-ocean travel.[23]
Archelon, like other marine turtles, probably would have had to have come onshore to nest; like other turtles, it probably dug out a hollow in the sand, laid several dozens of eggs, and took no part in child rearing. The right lower flipper of the holotype is missing, and stunted growth of remaining flipper bone indicates this occurred early in life. It may have been the result of attempted predation by a bird while a hatchling and trying to escape to the sea, bitten off by some large predator such as a mosasaur or a Xiphactinus, or was crushed off by larger adults while herding on the shore. However, the latter is unlikely as juveniles probably did not frequent the coasts even during breeding season.[23] Brigitta is estimated to have lived to 100 years, and may have died while partially covered in mud brumating–a state of dormancy–on the ocean floor.[15][20] However, the longstanding belief that marine turtles brumate underwater like freshwater turtles may be incorrect given the high surfacing-frequency needed to prevent drowning.[32]
Paleoecology
Archelon inhabited the shallow
As the seaway progressively migrated southward, it is possible Archelon was unable to migrate with it. The increasing threat of egg or hatchling predation by new marine or mammalian species may have led to the extinction of Archelon, and the disappearance of gigantic protostegids seems to have coincided with the increasing size of dermochelyids.
See also
References
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- ^ a b c d e f Hoganson, J. W.; Woodward, B. (2004). "Skeleton of the Rare Giant Sea Turtle, Archelon, Recovered from the Cretaceous DeGrey Member of the Pierre Shale near Cooperstown, Griggs County, North Dakota" (PDF). North Dakota Geological Society Newsletter. 32 (1): 1–4. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 18, 2020. Retrieved December 23, 2018.
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- ^ Liddell & Scott 1980, p. 781.
- ^ Liddell & Scott 1980, p. 336.
- ^ Hirayama, R. (2005). "Systematic position of Protosphargis veronensis Capellini, an enigmatic sea turtle from the Late Cretaceous of Italy". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 25 (3): 70A.
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- ^ a b Zangerl, R. (1953). The Vertebrate Fauna of the Selma Formation of Alabama. Part III: The Turtles of the Family Protostegidae. Fieldiana: Geology Memoirs. Vol. 3. Chicago Natural History Museum. pp. 78–79, 128–130.
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- ^ a b c d Derstler, K.; Leitch, A. D.; Larson, P. L.; Finsley, C.; Hill, L. (1993). "The World's Largest Turtles - The Vienna Archelon (4.6 m) and the Dallas Protostega (4.2 m), Upper Cretaceous of South Dakota and Texas". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 13 (3): 33A.
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- ^ a b c "The Archelon". Black Hills Institute of Geological Research, Inc. Archived from the original on March 12, 2016. Retrieved December 23, 2018.
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- ^ a b c Scheyer, T. M.; Sánchez-Villagra, M. R. (2007). "Carapace Bone Histology in the Giant Pleurodiran Turtle Stupendemys geographicus: Phylogeny and Function". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 52 (2): 137–154.
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- ^ a b c "Western Interior Seaway". The Virtual Fossil Museum. Retrieved December 25, 2018.
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- ^ Brinster, K. F. (1970). Molluscan Paleontology of the Pierre Shale (Upper Cretaceous), Bowman County, North Dakota (MS). University of North Dakota.
- ^ Weems, R. E. (1988). "Paleocene turtles from the Aquia and Brightseat Formations, with a Discussion of their Bearing on Sea Turtle Evolution and Phylogeny". Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 101 (1): 144.
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Cited text
- A Greek-English Lexicon (abridged ed.). Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.
Further reading
- Hay, O. P. 1908. The fossil turtles of North America. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Publication No. 75, 568 pp, 113 pl.
- Wieland, G. R. 1902. Notes on the Cretaceous turtles, Toxochelys and Archelon, with a classification of the marine Testudinata. American Journal of Science, Series 4, 14:95-108, 2 text-figs.