Facts about Desmatochelys

1. 06

   Desmatochelys lowei's teeth were sharp and pointed, specialized for gripping slippery prey rather than the keratinous beak structure found in contemporary sea turtles.

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2. 05

   Around 120 million years ago during the Early Cretaceous, Desmatochelys lowei inhabited shallow coastal seas of North America, with fossil evidence from formations like the Aptian-Albian stages.

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3. 04

   Fossils of Desmatochelys lowei from the Early Cretaceous show paddle-like limbs adapted for aquatic locomotion rather than the flippers of modern sea turtles.

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4. 03

   In 2011, phylogenetic analyses placed Desmatochelys lowei as a basal chelonioid, suggesting it occupied an evolutionary position between earlier stem-turtles and modern sea turtle lineages.

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5. 02

   Desmatochelys lowei specimens from Early Cretaceous deposits measure approximately 1 meter in shell length, making it among the smaller sea turtles of its time period.

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6. 01

   The Cretaceous sea turtle Desmatochelys lowei possessed a flexible shell unlike modern turtles, allowing it to compress its body for hunting in shallow marine environments.

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