Oldest known marine turtle? A new protostegid from the Lower Cretaceous of Colombia. 2015. PaleoBios
The partial skeleton of
Desmatochelys padillai, with a length of nearly 6.5 feet (2 m), shows all of the characteristic traits of modern marine turtles. It originates from Cretaceous sediments and is at least 120 million years old.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUouf18tOpZf_GgDo4mgzE2_1rHsRAnrrmy6FHanu_PwzZQtOyBeht6O-MbAiEVHnBgp6JjyjJCU0wPk8xUjn58X5jhk0-ZtQBNMRVtDKDYAhDEbPo8oJCO0DBunTgZVhTqashyQ/s400/image_3212_2-Desmatochelys-padillai.jpg)