Archelon Temporal range: Upper Cretaceous
Type specimen (YPM 3000) of Archelon ischyros
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Sauropsida
Order:	Testudines
Suborder:	Cryptodira
Family:	Protostegidae
Genus:	Archelon
Binomial name
Archelon ischyros Wieland, 1896

Archelon was a huge marine turtle ( Testudines ) that was the size of a car. It lived in North America 74 million years ago (from the Upper Cretaceous ) in the epeiric inland sea called the Western Interior Seaway . Fossils have been found in the U.S. states of Kansas and South Dakota .

This carnivore was up to 4.6 metres (15 ft) long. ^{[1] [2]} It had a wide, flattened shell, paddle-like legs, a long, narrow head, weak jaws, and a short, pointed tail. Its only predators were probably the larger mosasaurs . From its beak , its own food was probably squid .

Archelon , like other turtles, had a solidly-roofed skull with no opening (except for eyes, and nostrils).

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