Pig-Nosed Turtle Discovered In Utah; Newly Discovered Species From The Dinosaur Era

by Floryn Glory Melano / Oct 24, 2015 01:21 AM EDT

Newly Discovered Species From Dinosaur Era; Unique Pig-Nosed Turtle Found In Utah

From the age of Dinosaur, for about 76 million years way back, the newly discovered species of turtles has unique pig-nose feature found in Utah.

University of Texas, at Austin, Joshua Lively, who currently taking doctoral degree said that "It's one of the weirdest turtles that ever lived," according to CNET.

The scientist researchers came to a conclusion that the turtle was about two feet long after examining the fossils of the turtle. This specie, reported by Discovery News, also had a streamlined shell that helped to lasts their existence in bayous, flood plains and rivers; where they most likely lived million years back. These types of field are said to be found in Louisiana than Utah.

The said water-land creature, turtle, has a very unique feature, a strange nose. It was held by two nasal openings, which this feature was assumed to be no extraordinary from the other turtle species. The said animal was first discovered in state's natural history museum, the Utah's Grand Staorcase-Escalante National Monument, cited by CNET.

Researching and examining the remains of the turtle with pig snout didn't stop there, scientists said that the said investigation will in fact help in understanding the turtle evolution, according to News Discovery. Turtles' relic doesn't give a partial hind limb, vertebrae neck and an almost complete forelimb.

Joshua Lively, one of the scientist researchers, classified and described the newly discovered animal in a paper in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

A curator of paleontology at the museum, Randall Irmis, and associate professor in University of Utah said; "With only isolated skulls or shells, we are unable to fully understand how different species of fossil turtles are related, and what roles they played in their ecosystems," mentioned in News Discovery.

Meanwhile, the said newly discovered turtle was named Arvinachelys golden, according to CNET. Arvina, a Latin word for pig fat or bacon, while Chelys, Latin for tortoise. The second name is from Jerry Golden's name. He was a volunteer who helped in preparing the fossil for study at the Natural History Museum of Utah.