Grande tortue fossile

Large Fossil Tortoise
Stylemys nebrascensis
Oligocene
White River Badlands, South Dakota, USA
Stylemys nebrascensis was the first North American fossil tortoise described; it ranges in size from a few inches to a yard in length. The turtle shell is made up of the upper carapace and lower plastron, exhibiting an outer horny layer and lower bony layer. The lower layer is formed by bony plates; each plate is attached contiguously by suture. The outer horny layer is a series of scutes made of keratin. Too soft to fossilize, outlines of the keratin scutes are often seen as grooves in the bones (plates) below them. Most of the turtle shell specimens recovered from the White River Badlands are mere fragments. This magnificent shell of an Oligocene tortoise is intact and fully inflated. An indisputably fine specimen of large proportions. Measuring 52 x 36 x 24 cm
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