Placochelys
| Placochelys Temporal range: Mid to Late Triassic
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| Restored Placochelys placodonta skull at the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin | |
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| Genus: | Placochelys
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Placochelys ('flat-plate turtle") is an extinct genus of reptile from the Triassic period of Germany.
Placochelys looked remarkably similar to a sea turtle, and grew to about 90 centimetres (3.0 ft) in length. It had a flat shell covered with knobbly plates, and a compact skull. Its skull had beaked, mostly toothless jaws with powerful muscles, and specialized broad teeth on the pallet, which were most likely used for crushing shellfish. Its limbs were paddle-shaped for swimming, although, unlike modern sea turtles, they still had clear toes, and it also had a short tail.[1]
Placochelys was featured in the video game Paraworld
References
- ^ Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 71. ISBN 1-84028-152-9.
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