Fossil turtle nose fossil found 76 million years

Researchers discovered fossils of an ancient turtle with a pig-like nose, living at the same time as the tyrant dinosaur, in Utah, USA.

Detection of pig nose turtle fossils

IB Times reported yesterday that the newly discovered creature, the Arvinachelys golden , lived 76 million years ago and is considered the most exotic turtle ever to appear on Earth due to its nose shape.

The reconstruction of a pig nose turtle.(Photo: Victor Leshyk).

This extinct pig-nosed turtle is about 0.6 meters long and has an elongated shell that is ideal for living in rivers. It also possesses a wide nose with two nostrils that form from the bone cavity and the median flesh. All other turtles have only one nostril.

The scientific name of pig nose turtles comes from Latin, the word "arvina" means lard or bacon while "chelys" refers to turtles. Many ancient turtle fossils have only separate skulls or shells and rarely include both. However, pig nose turtles are found with almost complete skull, apricot, front limbs, part of the back and spine from the neck to the tail.

The almost intact fossil of pig nose turtle.(Photo: Utah Natural History Museum).

Joshua Lively, a researcher at the University of Texas in Austin, USA, published the findings in the Journal of Vertebrate Biology. Finding a pig nose turtle will help fill holes in the evolution of turtles.

Pig nose turtle fossils are found by the Utah Natural History Museum scientists at the Grand Staircase-Escalante Monument. This area contains many fossilized animal corpses. In the period of Arvinachelys living, west North America is a large continental island called Laramidia, with the sea stretching from the Arctic to the Gulf of Mexico, Laramidia separating and eastern North America.