The skeletons of Golden’s bacon turtle, also known as Arvinachelys goldeni, were discovered by scientists recently, according to CNN.
The turtle, from the age of dinosaurs, has been causing a lot of buzz due to its name, as well as its unique features.
The turtle reportedly gets its name from its broad snout, which has two bony nasal openings, unlike any turtle ever found. All other turtles reportedly have just one external nasal hole in their skulls.
Arvinachelys goldeni reportedly comes from arvina, a Latin word for pig fat or bacon, and chelys, for tortoise.
“It’s one of the weirdest turtles that ever lived,” said Joshua Lively, who described the new species in a paper published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology this week, according to the publication Gracious Column.
“It really helps add to the story emerging from dinosaur research carried out at the Natural History Museum of Utah.”
The extinct turtle was reportedly about 2 feet long from head to tail. When it was alive 76 million years ago during the Cretaceous Period, it reportedly lived alongside tyrannosaurs, armored ankylosaurs, giant duck-billed dinosaurs such as Gryposaurus and Parasaurolophus, and other dinosaurs.
This recent discovery is a significant one in the science community.
Unlike other fossils that are found, the new discovery reportedly consists of a skull and a shell as well as a nearly complete forelimb, partial hindlimbs and vertebra from the neck and tail of the turtle.
“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," said Randall Irmis, curator of paleontology at the museum and associate professor at the University of Utah.
This new finding can contribute to further research regarding the evolution of turtles.
