Stylemys nebrascensis, turtle Deinonychus roaming the swamps of North

roaming the swamps of North Africa

by a workman named Johann Veran during archaeological excavations at a paleolithic site near Willendorf

making it one of the most complete ever found in North America

since the figurines predate the mythological figure of Venus by many thousands of years

The discovery site was in Miocene-aged sediments about 15 million years ago

Stylemys nebrascensis, turtle Deinonychus roaming the swamps of NorthStylemys (which means "pillar mouse") nebrascensis was the first fossil genus of dry land tortoise, which belonged to the order Testudines, to be discovered in the United States. It was first described by Dr. Joseph Leidy in 1851. Stylemys was common in the prehistoric Badlands of South Dakota and Nebraska. They lived in the temperate to subtropical areas of North America, Asia and Europe. Stylemys ranged from the late Eocene to early Oligocene. The