Car-size: Giant deer fossils were discovered in South America

The Stofendmais geographic lived in the north of the continent seven to 13 million years ago, and was four feet long. The armor of the males was pointed, and they were used for battle

Car-size: Giant deer fossils were discovered in South America

Car-sized turtle fossils have been unearthed in South America. The turtle - Stupendmase Geographicus - lived in the area seven million to 13 million years ago. The fossils were found in the Tetacoa Desert in Colombia and in the Oromco Province of Venezuela.

The first fossils were already found in the 1970s, but to this day many questions remain about the four-foot turtle. It was about the size of a family machine and populated large swampy areas in northern South America before the Amazon and Orinco rivers formed.

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Used to eat animals, fruits and vegetables. Imaging of the giant turtle

Turtle Stupendmase geographer (Photo: Reuters)

The armor of the males was pointed at the front. Deep scars found in fossils indicated that the tips were probably used for fighting. Investigators said they found three-foot-long armor and lower jaw bone, and through it they received additional clues about the giant deer diet. They are believed to have lived on the bottom of lakes and rivers alongside huge alligators, and have been fed on small animals, vegetables, fruits and seeds.

Their size was decisive in defending themselves from other major predators. One of the fossils found a giant alligator's tooth inside.