Scientists discovered the fossil of a 76-million-year-old extinct species of pig-snouted turtle in Utah.
The incredible new species is unlike any pig-snouted turtle known to science, the University of Utah reported.
"It's one of the weirdest turtles that ever lived," said researcher Joshua Lively. "It really helps add to the story emerging from dinosaur research carried out at the Natural History Museum of Utah."
The ancient turtle measured in at about two feet long and had a streamlined shell, suggesting it was adapted to live in river environments. During the species' reign, the terrain of Utah was more similar to modern day Louisiana, with a wet, hot climate and land characterized by rivers and lowland flood plains. The animal had two bony nostrils that are unlike anything that has been seen in any other turtle species. All other turtles have one external nasal opening divided by only flesh.
Most fossil turtles consist of only a skull or shell, but this new fossil offers a skull and shell as well as a nearly complete forelimb, partial hindlimbs, and vertebrae from the neck and tail. The ancient species was dubbed Arvinachelys golden, or "bacon turtle." The discovery is important because it could help fill in gaps in our knowledge of the evolution of turtles.
"With only isolated skulls or shells, we are unable to fully understand how different species of fossil turtles are related, and what roles they played in their ecosystems," said Randall Irmis, curator of paleontology at the museum and associate professor at the University of Utah.
The findings were published in a recent edition of the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
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