Tematica Animali preistorici

Protostega gigas Cope, 1871

Phylum: Chordata Haeckel, 1874

Subphylum: Vertebrata Cuvier, 1812

Classe: Reptilia Laurenti, 1768

Ordine: Testudines Batsch, 1788

Famiglia: Protostegidae Cope, 1872

Genere: Protostega Cope, 1872

Descrizione

era un rettile con guscio non formato da piastre ossee rinforzate, tranne l'anello attorno al contorno e i sottili spuntoni che univano questi (così poteva fuggire in velocità perché pesava molto meno), molto simile morfologicamente alle tartarughe odierne. Dopo la Archelon ischyros, che era lunga 4 metri e larga 5 metri, la Protostega è stata la seconda tartaruga per dimensioni di tutti i tempi. Era lungo circa 3 metri e pesava circa 450 kg. Aveva un becco corneo, le zampe anteriori molto grandi e le zampe posteriori più piccole. Si nutriva di meduse e crostacei. Il suo "becco" non possedeva denti. Si nutriva di crostacei e meduse. Era cacciata da pliosauri, mosasauridi, squali e coccodrilli. Bibliografia: Sea Monster Pictures, Protostega Photos, Facts, Animals Reports, News, Info - National Geographic.

Diffusione

Viveva nel Cretacico superiore, in Nord America.

Bibliografia

–Hirayama, Ren (1994). "Phylogenetic systematics of chelonioid sea turtles". Island Arc. 3 (4): 270-284.
–Carpenter, K. (2003). "Vertebrate Biostratigraphy of the Smoky Hill Chalk (Niobrara Formation) and the Sharon Springs Member (Pierre Shale)." High-Resolution Approaches in Stratigraphic Paleontology, 21: 421-437.
–Kiernan, Caitlin R. (2002). "Stratigraphic distribution and habitat segregation of mosasaurs in the Upper Cretaceous of western and central Alabama, with an historical review of Alabama mosasaur discoveries". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 22 (1): 91-103.
–Danilov, I. G.; Obraztsova, E. M.; Arkhangelsky, M. S.; Ivanov, A. V.; Averianov, A. O. (2022). "Protostega gigas and other sea turtles from the Campanian of Eastern Europe, Russia" (PDF). Cretaceous Research. 135: Article 105196.
–Cope, Edward Drinker (1872). "A description of the genus Protostega". Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia: 422-433.
–Mike Everhart. "Marine turtles from the Western Interior Sea". OceansOfKansas.com.
–H. F. Kaddumi (2006). "A new genus and species of gigantic marine turtles (Chelonioidea: Cheloniidae) from the Maastrichtian of the Harrana Fauna-Jordan" (PDF). PalArch's Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology. 3 (1): 1-14.
–"Protostega-dig-2011". oceansofkansas.com.
–Cope, Edward (1871). "A Description of the Genus Protostega, a Form of Extinct Testudinata". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 12 (86): 422-433.
–Wiffen, J. (1981-03-01). "The first Late Cretaceous turtles from New Zealand". New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics. 24 (2): 293-299.
–Dennis, K. J.; Cochran, J. K.; Landman, N. H.; Schrag, D. P. (2013-01-15). "The climate of the Late Cretaceous: New insights from the application of the carbonate clumped isotope thermometer to Western Interior Seaway macrofossil". Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 362: 51-65.
–Schröder-Adams, Claudia J.; Cumbaa, Stephen L.; Bloch, John; Leckie, Dale A.; Craig, Jim; Seif El-Dein, Safaa A.; Simons, Dirk-Jan H. A. E.; Kenig, Fabien (2001-06-15). "Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian to Campanian) paleoenvironmental history of the Eastern Canadian margin of the Western Interior Seaway: bonebeds and anoxic events". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 170 (3): 261-289.
–Petersen, Sierra V.; Tabor, Clay R.; Lohmann, Kyger C.; Poulsen, Christopher J.; Meyer, Kyle W.; Carpenter, Scott J.; Erickson, J. Mark; Matsunaga, Kelly K. S.; Smith, Selena Y.; Sheldon, Nathan D. (2016-11-01). "Temperature and salinity of the Late Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway". Geology. 44 (11): 903-906.
–Lutz, Peter L.; Musick, John A. (1996). The Biology of Sea Turtles. CRC Press. p. 10.
–Derstler, K.; Leitch, A. D.; Larson, P. L.; Finsley, C.; Hill, L. (1993). "The World's Largest Turtles - The Vienna Archelon (4.6 m) and the Dallas Protostega (4.2 m), Upper Cretaceous of South Dakota and Texas". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 13 (suppl. to no. 3) (33A).
–"Protostega gigas by Triebold Paleontology, Inc". trieboldpaleontology.com.
–Carnegie Institution of Washington (1908). Carnegie Institution of Washington publication. MBLWHOI Library. Washington, Carnegie Institution of Washington.
–Case, Ermine Cowles (1897). On the Osteology and Relationships of Protostega. Ginn.
–Wilson, Laura E. (2023). "Rapid growth in Late Cretaceous sea turtles reveals life history strategies similar to extant leatherbacks". PeerJ. 11. e14864.

	Data: 29/09/2017 Emissione: Animali preistorici acquatici Stato: Sierra Leone Nota: Presente nel foglietto