The world's largest tortoise, weighing several hundred pounds, is known as "walking canned meat"

In film and television works, the little turtle is not only an animal, but has also become a "transportation tool" for no reason. For example, in "Journey to the West", Tang Seng and his apprentice had crossed the river twice before sitting on the back of a turtle, and the second time they "turned the turtle" and were thrown into the seepage water.

There is also a classic cartoon "Dragon Ball" in which the turtle fairy has been standing on the turtle's back.

However, everyone seems to have never seen such a huge turtle. Is there really such a large turtle in the world? How big is the largest turtle?

First of all, there are tortoises as big as the "mountain" of the turtle fairy, there are indeed in the world, such as the largest turtle in today's society, the leatherback turtle. The shell of the leatherback turtle can reach 1.5 meters in length and 90 centimeters in width, and there is no problem with standing next to a person. I heard that the larger leatherback turtle is nearly 2.6 meters and weighs more than 900 kilograms. And, it's a big turtle. Therefore, the mount of the turtle fairy is probably a leatherback turtle.

Obviously, even a leatherback turtle would not be able to sit down with as many people as Tang Seng and his apprentices. If you really want to find such a huge turtle, it is impossible in modern times, and everyone has to go to prehistoric times to find it.

For example, in the history of the largest turtle - tortoise.

In the 1970s, paleontologists first discovered the tortoise in Romania, when a huge fossilized tortoise shell was excavated. When they saw this fossil, they were all surprised - it was indeed too big. According to accurate measurement, the length of this turtle shell is 2.35 meters. I think that this turtle was very scary before it died, so it was named Hae Turtle.

Naturally, this terrifying turtle is not very big, and it is not as big as the leatherback turtle just mentioned. At this stage, biologists have unearthed a larger fossil tortoise shell, which was serially numbered UNEFM?CIAPP?2009. The shell fossils of this terrifying turtle are not detailed, but based on the appearance, it can be inferred that its length can reach 3.3 meters, and its total width is also 2.8 meters. If you add a head and a small tail, maybe its length will be 5 meters (this inference seems unscientific, but the turtle belongs to the side-necked turtle family, and the neck of this type of turtle looks better than the domestic turtle you see. The weight is also a shocking 6 tons, which is heavier than a baby elephant!

According to a detailed introduction by paleontologists, the tortoise probably lived in Africa five to 10 million years ago (obviously, Tang monks and apprentices had never been to Africa at that time, so they might not have the chance to sit on this type of tortoise). Speaking of which, this is not a good "time", because there is its nemesis waiting there - the Prussian crocodile. Experts found some tooth marks and stab wounds on the shell of the terrified turtle, indicating that this microorganism with a "thick shield" is still likely to become the home food of some small animals.

The Prussian crocodile is one of the most powerful crocodiles in history, with a length of 12.5 meters and a weight of about 8 tons, completely crushing the turtle. And its body structure seems to have evolved to better eat the turtle. The mouth of the Prussian crocodile can be opened very wide, which is very convenient for it to eat these huge prey. And the strong jaw can cause a shocking bite force of more than 7 tons, making the firm shell of the terrifying turtle look vulnerable. It has a shorter bridge of the nose, leaving room for the forehead bone, making it look stronger, and the gums are deeper, increasing the compressive strength and avoiding trauma when biting the turtle shell.

Naturally, even so, the Prussian crocodile may not be able to easily bite the hard shell of the turtle. It is inferred that their key prey should be the tortoises that have not yet fully grown and developed.

However, this does not mean that the extinction of the tortoise requires the Prussian crocodile to take the blame. After all, the food web of the ecosystem is very complex and relatively complete. If it is indeed possible to make it extinct by eating, then the Prussian crocodile and the tortoise may not live together on the earth for tens of millions of years. time. Paleontologists deduce that it is more likely that it depends on natural disasters or changes in climate. As to what caused their extinction, it is still a mystery at this stage, waiting for the re-scientific research of paleontologists and the excavation of a large number of fossils.