| Archelon was a slow mover and found most
of its food drifting near the sea surface. It had little need to dive
deep except when hibernating on the seabed. It was an omnivorous grazer,
sweeping up drifting fish, jellyfish and dead carrion as well as plants.
Its sharp, powerful beak could break open shelled animals such as
ammonites. Archelon's huge flippers
suggest it was a long distance swimmer happiest in the open ocean. It
would never be alone, as its huge size attracted a squadron of
hangers-on such as juvenile fish as well as barnacles and parasites.
Archelon couldn't withdraw its head or flippers inside its bony shell
for protection so, despite its size, it was an easy target for large
predators.
Like modern turtles, it laid eggs by
burying them in sandy beaches under cover of darkness. Its nearest
living relative is the world's largest turtle, the leatherback.
Archelon is a genus of extinct sea turtle, the largest
that has ever lived. The largest Archelon fossil, found in the
Pierre Shale of South Dakota in the 1970s, measures more than 13.5 feet
(4 meters) long, and about 16 feet wide from flipper to flipper. It was
a sea going turtle, related to present day Leatherback Sea Turtles. Its
fossils date to 70 million years ago in the Cretaceous period, when a
shallow sea covered most of central North America. The live weight of an
Archelon ischyros is estimated at more than 4,500 pounds (2200
kilograms). |
