Meiolania is an extinct genus of meiolaniid stem-turtle native to Australasia throughout much of the Cenozoic. Meiolania was a large turtle, with the shell alone ranging from 0.7–2 m in length. Four species are currently recognized, although the validity of two of them is disputed. Meiolania was first described as a species of lizard related to Megalania by Richard Owen towards the end of the 19th century, before the continued discovery of additional fossils solidified its placement as a kind of turtle.
Meiolania
Meiolania platyceps AMNH 29076 skull cast
The limbs of Meiolania are thought to have been covered in plate and cone-shaped osteoderms, similar to the armor seen on some modern tortoises.
One hypothesis suggests Meiolania could have rafted to distant islands
The Pleistocene is the geological epoch that lasted from c. 2.58 million to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed in 2009 by the International Union of Geological Sciences, the cutoff of the Pleistocene and the preceding Pliocene was regarded as being 1.806 million years Before Present (BP). Publications from earlier years may use either definition of the period. The end of the Pleistocene corresponds with the end of the last glacial period and also with the end of the Paleolithic age used in archaeology. The name is a combination of Ancient Greek πλεῖστος (pleîstos), meaning "most", and καινός, meaning "new".
Evolution of temperature in the Post-Glacial period at the very end of the Pleistocene, according to Greenland ice cores
Various schemes for subdividing the Pleistocene
Pleistocene of Northern Spain, including woolly mammoth, cave lions eating a reindeer, horses, and woolly rhinoceros
Pleistocene of South America, including Megatherium and two Glyptodon