Buzz
Scientists reveal that close relatives of the giant turtle species could ferry multiple people across this river, still residing on Earth today.
In 'Journey to the West,' on their pilgrimage, when Master Tang and his four disciples reached the Thong Thien River without a boat, they relied on a large turtle to ferry them.
When Monk Tang arrived to seek the scriptures, he forgot about this matter, so on the way back across the Thong Thien River, encountering the Old Turtle again, he asked the Old Turtle to ferry them across.
Many are curious about whether this turtle character is a monster or just a creature. Most believe that Wu Cheng'en was indeed a creative genius when he created a masterpiece of Chinese literature.
Gigantic Turtle Species
What kind of turtle could be so large? Is it due to genetic mutation or some other cause? Why don't we see this turtle species anymore today?
The gigantic turtle species we're referring to here is the Giant South American Turtle, scientifically known as Stupendemys geographicus. Unfortunately, Stupendemys geographicus is now extinct. Stupendemys geographicus is a prehistoric genus of freshwater turtle.
The first fossils of this species were discovered in the 1970s and were formally named in 1976. Most fossils have been found in Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, and some other countries. Scientists observed that the Stupendemys geographicus species used to inhabit the northern parts of South America.
Analysis from the geological layers where fossils were found indicates that this giant turtle species typically lived in lakes, ponds within tropical rainforests, or slow-flowing rivers. They spent most of their time in water and mainly fed on vegetation.
Subsequently, Venezuelan paleontologist Rodolfo Sánchez and his team discovered a giant South American turtle shell fossil in Urumac, Venezuela, dating back around 8 million years. This fossil is almost the most complete specimen of the giant turtle species.
The Turtle Species with Only One Predator
According to paleontologists, the large size of Stupendemys geographicus turtles served as a defense mechanism against other predators. And the horns on their shells were one of their weapons. Stupendemys geographicus turtles had only one natural enemy, the Purussaurus crocodile. Purussaurus was an extinct genus of giant caiman that lived in South America during the Miocene epoch, from Colhuehuapian to Montehermosan in the SALMA classification.
Therefore, scientists reached this conclusion because on the fossil specimens of land turtles, they only found bite marks from the Purussaurus crocodile. Only the bite force of the Purussaurus crocodile could break through the extremely tough shell of the Stupendemys geographicus turtles.
To this day, Stupendemys geographicus is still recognized by scientists as the largest turtle species ever found by humans.
From the fossil specimens of Stupendemys geographicus turtles, archaeologists have found many genes related to various turtle species living in the Amazon today. The closest relative of Stupendemys geographicus turtles is the Podocnemis expansa species living in a giant swamp system in South America. The Podocnemis species has a body length of about 1 meter and an average weight of around 90 kg.
Sources: Sohu, AZ Animals
