With a shell nearly 2 meters long, the Peltocephalus maturin turtle that once dominated the ancient Amazon waters has now become a shocking scientific discovery.
Báo Khoa học và Đời sống•14/07/2025
While excavating at the Taquaras Quarry in Porto Velho, in the Brazilian Amazon, paleontologists from the Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Environmental Paleontology at the University of Tübingen unexpectedly discovered a set of ancient, giant, and strange turtle fossils. Photo: @University of Tübingen. This newly discovered turtle species lived in what is now Brazil about 9,000 years ago. Photo: @University of Tübingen.
Named Peltocephalus maturin, the ancient animal could have had a carapace length of up to 1.8 metres. Photo: @University of Tübingen. By comparison, with a maximum shell length of 1.4 metres, the Asian narrow-headed softshell turtle (Chitra chitra) and the South American river turtle (Podocnemis expansa), which can reach up to 1.1 metres in length, are some of the largest freshwater turtles alive today. Photo: @University of Tübingen. Dr Gabriel Ferreira, a paleontologist at the Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Environmental Paleobiology at the University of Tübingen, said Peltocephalus maturin was closely related to the big-headed Amazon river turtle (Peltocephalus dumerilianus) that lived during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene in what is now Brazil. Photo: @University of Tübingen.
Like its closest relatives, Peltocephalus maturin was likely omnivorous, the narrow cut surface of its lower jaw fossil being unsuitable for herbivory. Photo: @University of Tübingen. Dr. Gabriel Ferreira and colleagues measured the jawbone fossil and compared it to both living and extinct turtles. Based on its size and shape, they identified Peltocephalus maturin as a species new to science . Photo: @University of Tübingen. The jawbone of Peltocephalus maturin is one of the largest of any turtle, and based on comparisons with other turtles, Dr. Gabriel Ferreira and his team estimate that the reptile had a shell up to 1.8 meters long. Photo: @University of Tübingen.
The researchers also note that, since there is evidence of human habitation in the ancient Amazon more than 11,000 years ago, it is likely that humans encountered this giant tortoise. Photo: @University of Tübingen. Dear Readers, please watch the video : 40 Most Unbelievable Moments Caught on Camera. Video source: @Strange Stories.
Báo Khoa học và Đời sống•14/07/2025
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