Cratochelone facts for kids

Cratochelone was a huge, ancient sea turtle that lived a long, long time ago. It's an extinct animal, meaning it's no longer alive today. This amazing creature belonged to a group of turtles called Protostegidae, which were some of the biggest turtles ever. We only know about one type of Cratochelone, called Cratochelone berneyi.

This giant turtle lived during a time called the Albian stage, which was part of the Cretaceous Period. Its fossils have only been found in the Toolebuc Formation in Queensland, Australia.

Discovering Cratochelone

How do we know about Cratochelone berneyi? We know it from just one fossil! This special fossil is called the holotype, and its museum number is "QM F14550".

The fossil isn't a complete skeleton. It's a collection of bones from different parts of the body, found in a hard, stone-colored rock. These bones include parts of its lower shell (called the plastron), its shoulder, and pieces of a front flipper.

A person named F. L. Berney found this fossil. He discovered it in rocks from the Eromanga Basin in Queensland. Later, he gave the fossil to the Queensland Museum in Brisbane, Australia, where it is kept safe today.

Naming the Giant Turtle

The first person to study and describe Cratochelone was Herber A. Longman. He worked at the Queensland Museum. In 1915, Longman officially named this new genus and species. He published his findings in a scientific book called the Memoirs of the Queensland Museum.

Longman chose the name Cratochelone to show how it was different from another ancient turtle found in Queensland, called Notochelone. The second part of the name, berneyi, was chosen to honor F. L. Berney, who found the fossil and gave it to the museum.

How Big Was Cratochelone?

When Herber Longman first looked at the bones of Cratochelone, he noticed they were very large. He thought that a full-grown Cratochelone might have been about 4 meters (about 13 feet) long! That's longer than a small car!

For a while, some scientists thought this size estimate might be too big. They suggested it was closer to 2 meters (about 6.5 feet) long. However, in 2006, another scientist named Benjamin Kear studied the fossil again. He agreed with Longman's original idea that Cratochelone could indeed reach a massive size of around 4 meters. This makes Cratochelone one of the largest sea turtles ever known!

Comparing Ancient Turtles

Cratochelone berneyi is one of three types of giant sea turtles from the Protostegidae family found as fossils in Australia.

• Notochelone costata was described in 1885 and was the smallest of the three.
• Bouliachelys suteri was discovered more recently and was a medium-sized turtle, bigger than Notochelone but smaller than Cratochelone.

Even though scientists hoped to find more fossils of Cratochelone to learn more, the original fossil remains the only one ever found.