Paleontologists have uncovered fossilized remains in the Amazon belonging to one of the largest freshwater turtles ever to exist, a behemoth with a shell stretching nearly 1.8 meters (5.9 feet) that lived as recently as 9,000 years ago. The discovery offers a stunning glimpse into a prehistoric world of megafauna and raises the intriguing possibility of coexistence with the earliest human inhabitants of the region.
The research team, led by Dr. Gabriel S. Ferreira from the Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment, estimates that *P. maturin* boasted a carapace (shell) length of approximately 1.8 meters (5.9 feet). This places it among the largest freshwater turtles known to science. To put this into perspective, it would have dwarfed its largest living freshwater relatives, such as the Asian narrow-headed softshell turtle (*Chitra chitra*), whose shell reaches a maximum of 1.4 meters.
“In the past, we only knew of a few turtles living in freshwaters that had a carapace length of more than 1.5 meters,” explained Dr. Ferreira. “Such large animals are most recently known primarily from the Miocene, the period around 23 to 5 million years ago.”
The discovery is particularly remarkable because of when this giant lived. Radiocarbon dating places the fossil between 40,000 and 9,000 years ago, during the Late Pleistocene. This timeline is significant because it overlaps with the arrival of the first humans in the Amazon, who are believed to have settled in the region around 12,600 years ago. This raises the tantalizing possibility that early humans encountered and perhaps even hunted these colossal turtles.
"We also know that large tortoises have been on the diet of hominins since the Paleolithic," Ferreira stated, highlighting the potential interaction between our ancestors and this mega-turtle.
Analysis of the robust jawbone suggests that *Peltocephalus maturin* was likely an omnivore, consuming a wide variety of food. It is believed to be a close relative of the modern big-headed Amazon turtle (*Peltocephalus dumerilianus*), though many times larger.
The name of the new species itself is a nod to popular culture. *Peltocephalus maturin* is named after Maturin, a giant, god-like turtle from the multiverse of author Stephen King’s novels, most famously featured in the "It" series. In King's lore, Maturin is an ancient and wise being responsible for the creation of the universe.
This discovery rewrites a chapter of the Amazon's natural history, proving that giant turtle forms persisted far more recently than previously thought. It underscores how much of the prehistoric Amazon, an ecosystem teeming with now-extinct giants, remains a mystery waiting to be unearthed. The canoe-sized *P. maturin* serves as a powerful reminder of the incredible life that once thrived in the world's greatest river basin.
