| Megalochelys Temporal range:
| |
|---|---|
| |
| M. atlas skeleton at the American Museum of Natural History | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Testudines |
| Suborder: | Cryptodira |
| Superfamily: | Testudinoidea |
| Family: | Testudinidae |
| Genus: | †Megalochelys Falconer & Cautley, 1837 |
| Type species | |
| Megalochelys atlas (Falconer and Cautley, 1844)
| |
| Species | |
|
See text | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Megalochelys ("great turtle") is an extinct genus of tortoises that lived from the Miocene to Pleistocene. They are noted for their giant size, the largest known for any tortoise, with a maximum carapace length of over 2 m (6.5 ft) in M. atlas. The genus ranged from western India and Pakistan to as far east as Sulawesi and Timor in Indonesia, though the island specimens likely represent distinct species.[1]
- ^ Rhodin, Anders; Pritchard, Peter; van Dijk, Peter Paul; Saumure, Raymond; Buhlmann, Kurt; Iverson, John; Mittermeier, Russell, eds. (2015-04-16). "Turtles and Tortoises of the World During the Rise and Global Spread of Humanity: First Checklist and Review of Extinct Pleistocene and Holocene Chelonians". Conservation Biology of Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises. Chelonian Research Monographs. Vol. 5 (First ed.). Chelonian Research Foundation. doi:10.3854/crm.5.000e.fossil.checklist.v1.2015. ISBN 978-0-9653540-9-7.