According to a recent study, scientists uncovered the largest complete remains of a turtle shell, and it's dated back about 8-million years. The giant's shell is almost 8 feet in length (about 2.4 meters).
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The animal, known as Stupendemys geographicus, a freshwater turtle, would have lived in the northern parts of South America during a period known as the Miocene epoch. A period which lasted about 7 million years and ended approximately 5 million years ago.
Researches have known about this giant species since 1976, however, at that time they did not know much. Thanks to these new findings, more light has been shed on this once-forgotten creature.
After examining the new fossils found in the La Tatocoa Dessert researchers made a surprising new discovery. Males of the species were said to have horn-like weapons towards their upper shells, likely for male-on-male combat for territory or mating.
Another shell contained a tooth from a species of crocodile. Which means that despite their gargantuan size, these turtles may have still been hunted by predators of the time.
