Protostegidae

Protostegids
Temporal range: Cretaceous,[1][2] Valanginian–Maastrichtian
Life restoration of Archelon ischyros
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Testudines
Suborder: Cryptodira
Clade: Panchelonioidea (?)
Family: Protostegidae
Cope, 1873 [3]
Type species
Protostega gigas
Cope, 1872
Genera

Protostegidae is a family of extinct marine turtles that lived during the Cretaceous period. The family includes some of the largest sea turtles that ever existed. The largest, Archelon, had a head one metre (39 in) long. Like most sea turtles, they had flattened bodies and flippers for front appendages; protostegids had minimal shells like leatherback turtles of modern times.

  1. ^ "Protostegidae". The Paleobiology Database. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
  2. ^ Cadena, E.-A.; Combita-Romero, D. A. (2023). "The onset of large size in Cretaceous marine turtles (Protostegidae) evidenced by new fossil remains from the Valanginian of Colombia". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlad053.
  3. ^ Hayden, Ferdinand Vandeveer (1873). "Sixth Annual Report of the United States Geological Survey of the Territories, embracing portions of Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah, being a report of progress of the explorations for the year 1872". U.S. Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories, Annual Report. Washington D.C. doi:10.3133/70038930.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Hirayama1998 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).