Protostega

Protostega
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 83.5 Ma
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Mounted skeleton
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Testudines
Suborder: Cryptodira
Family: †Protostegidae
Genus: †Protostega
Cope, 1872
Type species
†Protostega gigas
Cope, 1872

Protostega ('first roof')[1] is an extinct genus of sea turtle containing a single species, Protostega gigas. Its fossil remains have been found in the Smoky Hill Chalk formation of western Kansas (Hesperornis zone, dated to 83.5 million years ago[2]), time-equivalent beds of the Mooreville Chalk Formation of Alabama[3] and Campanian beds of the Rybushka Formation (Saratov Oblast, Russia).[4] Fossil specimens of this species were first collected in 1871, and named by Edward Drinker Cope in 1872.[5] With a total length of 3.9 metres (13 ft), it is the second-largest sea turtle that ever lived, second only to the giant Archelon,[6] and one of the three largest turtle of all time along Archelon and Gigantatypus.[7]

Protostega skeletal reconstruction in the Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center, Woodland Park, Colorado
  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Carpenter, K. (2003). "Vertebrate Biostratigraphy of the Smoky Hill Chalk (Niobrara Formation) and the Sharon Springs Member (Pierre Shale)." High-Resolution Approaches in Stratigraphic Paleontology, 21: 421-437. doi:10.1007/978-1-4020-9053-0
  3. ^ Kiernan, Caitlin R. (2002). "Stratigraphic distribution and habitat segregation of mosasaurs in the Upper Cretaceous of western and central Alabama, with an historical review of Alabama mosasaur discoveries". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 22 (1): 91–103. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2002)022[0091:SDAHSO]2.0.CO;2. S2CID 130280406.
  4. ^ Danilov, I. G.; Obraztsova, E. M.; Arkhangelsky, M. S.; Ivanov, A. V.; Averianov, A. O. (2022). "Protostega gigas and other sea turtles from the Campanian of Eastern Europe, Russia" (PDF). Cretaceous Research. 135: Article 105196. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2022.105196. S2CID 247431641. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2024-03-07.
  5. ^ Cope, Edward Drinker (1872). "A description of the genus Protostega". Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia: 422–433.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference KansasTurtles was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ H. F. Kaddumi (2006). "A new genus and species of gigantic marine turtles (Chelonioidea: Cheloniidae) from the Maastrichtian of the Harrana Fauna-Jordan" (PDF). PalArch's Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology. 3 (1): 1–14. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-02-24. Retrieved 2010-02-04.