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Archelon ischyros is an extinct species of turtle, the largest that has ever lived. The largest specimen measures more than four and a half meters long, and about four meters from flipper to flipper. It was a sea going turtle, similar to modern day sea turtles. Its fossils date to 70 million years ago in the Cretaceous when a shallow sea covered most of central North America, including much of South Dakota.
Archelon skeletons are extremely rare. The first was found in 1895 by G. R. Wieland at the south fork of the Cheyenne River, 35 miles east of Black Hills, South Dakota. It has been on display at the Peabody Museum of Natural History in New Haven, Connecticut, USA since 1907. The best preserved Archelon was also discovered in South Dakota, in 1970. It is now on display in Vienna Austria.
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