Cretaceous Sea Turtle Skeleton Replica

$16,600.00$19,900.00

Protostega Sea Turtle 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.

Clear

Description

Cretaceous Sea Turtle Skeleton Replica measures 60×48 inches. The Cretaceous Sea Turtle Skeleton Replica is Museum Quality Polyurethane cast made in the USA. Protostega gigas is the scientific name. Skeleton is mounted and crated. Call 509-951-3557 for shipping quote.

Protostega (first roof) 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 dated to 83.5 million years ago.

Fossil specimens of this species were first collected in 1871. With a length of 9.8 feet, it is the second largest sea turtle that ever lived, second only to the giant Archelon.

Growing more than 10 feet long, Protostega gigas was among the largest turtles to ever live. Unlike most turtles, whose shells are made of expanded and fused bones that form a relatively solid dome, widely spaced bones held up Protostega’s leathery shell.

The shell design provided less protection, the lighter load combined with powerful, flipper-like front legs made the Cretaceous sea turtle a strong, inexhaustible swimmer. Females migrated hundreds of miles to lay eggs on sandy beaches, much like sea turtles do today. Giant reptile of the Seas of Jurassic North America.

Edward Cope described the uniqued Protostega gigas to have a large jugal that reached to the quadrate along with a thickened pterygoid that reached to the mandibular articulating surface of the quadrate.

The fossil featured a reduction in the posterior portion of the vomer where the palatines meet medially. Another fossilized specimen showed a bony extension, that would have been viewed as a beak, was lacking in the Protostega genus.

The premaxillary beak of Protostega gigas was very shorted then Archelon. In front of the orbital region was elongated with broadly roofed temporal region. The jaws of the fossil showed a large crushing-surfaces.

The quadrato-jugal was triangular with a posterior edge that was concave and the entire bone was convex from distal view. The squamosal appeared to have a concave formation on the surface at the upper end of the quadrate.

Shop More Museum Quality Turtle Skulls in Turtle Skull Store

Additional information

Weight 150 lbs
Dimensions 60 × 48 in
Cretaceous Sea Turtle Facts:

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Testudines
Suborder: Cryptodira
Family: †Protostegidae
Genus: †Protostega
Type species: †Protostega gigas
Conservation Status: Extinct -Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species.