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===Size=== The largest [[Extant taxon|living]] species of turtle (and fourth-largest [[reptile]]) is the [[leatherback turtle]], which can reach over {{convert|2.7|m|abbr=on}} in length and weigh over {{convert|500|kg|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Chen |first1=Irene H. |last2=Yang |first2=Wen |last3=Meyers |first3=Marc A. |year=2015 |title=Leatherback Sea Turtle Shell: a Tough and Flexible Biological Design |journal=Acta Biomaterialia |volume=28 |pages=2β12 |doi=10.1016/j.actbio.2015.09.023 |pmid=26391496|doi-access=free |issn = 1742-7061 }}</ref> The largest known turtle was ''[[Archelon|Archelon ischyros]]'', a [[Cretaceous|Late Cretaceous]] sea turtle up to {{convert|4.5|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} long, {{convert|5.25|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} wide between the tips of the front flippers, and estimated to have weighed over {{cvt|2200|kg}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bhigr.com/pages/info/info_arch.htm |title=The ''Archelon'' |publisher=Black Hills Institute of Geological Research |access-date=23 December 2018 |archive-date=March 12, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312042116/http://www.bhigr.com/pages/info/info_arch.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> The smallest living turtle is ''[[Chersobius signatus]]'' of South Africa, measuring no more than {{convert|10|cm|in|abbr=on}} in length<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bonin |first1=Franck |last2=Devaux |first2=Bernard |last3=DuprΓ© |first3=Alain|year=2006 |title=Turtles of the World |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |page=230 |isbn=978-0-8018-8496-2}}</ref> and weighing {{convert|172|g|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite book |last=Frazier |first=Jack |year=2020 |contribution=Galapagos tortoises: Protagonists in the spectacle of life on Earth |page=26 |title=Galapagos Giant Tortoises |editor-last=Gibbs |editor-first=James |editor-last2=Cayot |editor-first2=Linda |editor-last3=Aguilera |editor-first3=Washington Tapia |publisher=Academic Press |isbn=978-0-12-817554-5 }}</ref>
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