Testudo atlas
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| iTestudo atlas |
||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
||||||||||||||||
|
Extinct (fossil)
|
||||||||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||
| Testudo atlas |
||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||
|
Testudo atlas ('Atlas turtle'), also known as Colossochelys, is an extinct species of cryptodire turtle from the Pleistocene period.
Although other members of the genus Testudo are small (7-35 cm long), T. atlas was the largest terrestrial turtle that ever existed, with a length of 2,50 m (8 ft) and an approximate height of 6 ft (1,80 m). It probably weighed around 4 tons. The only bigger turtle was the oceanic Archelon from the Cretaceous period. Testudo atlas probably looked like a giant Galápagos tortoise.
Like the modern Galápagos tortoise, Testudo atlas's weight was supported by four elephantine feet. Since most members of the Testudo genus are herbivores, paleontologists presume T. atlas had the same diet. When a predator threatened it, T. atlas could probably retract its limbs and head into its shell, just like its modern relatives.
 |
This paleontology article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
