Large 12" Fossil Tortoise (Stylemys) - Wyoming

This is a large, Oligocene aged, fossil tortoise of the genus Stylemys collected from a private ranch near Torrington, Wyoming. It's 12 inches in length and mostly complete with no restoration and only some minor crack stabilization. The shell has a natural pinkish tint to it. It weighs about 23 lbs.

Stylemys ("pillar turtle") is the first fossil genus of dry land tortoise discovered in the United States. The genus lived in temperate to subtropical areas of North America, Europe, and Asia
These extinct tortoises had primitive jaw muscles, unlike today's tortoises, which also display the os transiliens bone, and would have been herbivorous. While Stylemys species did exhibit the same neck structure as modern tortoises, the forelimbs were unsuitable for burrowing.
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DETAILS
SPECIES
Stylemys
LOCATION
Ranch near Torrington, Wyoming
SIZE
12" long, 9.5" wide
ITEM
#22794
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