This Ancient Extinct Pacific Turtle Looks Familiar…

Meiolania damelipi belongs to a genus of turtles who were thought to have died out 50,000 years ago, but recent discoveries have shown as existing alongside humankind.

M. damelipi bones were found during an archeological dig in the ancient village site of a seafaring Pacific island culture.  From Wired:

The bottom layer of the garbage pile, dated to 3,000 years ago, had many meiolaniid bones. The top layer, dated to 2,800 years ago, had none.

Truly, it is a sobering reminder of the affect that the human race has had on the planet even before we developed nuclear bombs, plastic, and carbon-based – Oh who are we kidding…

Do meiolaniids look like Bowser, or do they look like Bowser?

(via Wired.)