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Protostegidae

Protostegidae

Overview

Protostegidae Cope, 1873

Common Name: Sea turtle

Extant/Extinct

Key morphological features: Unfortunately it seems sea turtles were common prey of Late Cretaceous predators as their limbs and fragile components are often missing from their fossil skeletons. Their skulls may have been adapted to eat hard-shelled molluscs such as inoceramid clams from the bottom of the sea floor. Others believe they may have actively hunted ammonites.

        SIZE: Up to 4.9 meters long (12.83ft), 2.44 meters (8ft) is the approximate size of modern leatherback turtles

Paleoecology:

        MOBILITY: Mobile (swim)

        FEEDING MODE: Predator

        HABITAT: epifaunal

Sources:

Everhart, M. J., 2005. Oceans of Kansas: A Natural History of the Western Interior Sea. Indiana University Press, Bloomington. 322 pp.


Genera of Protostegidae present in the Cretaceous of the Western Interior Seaway