Titanochelon

See text Titanochelon is an extinct genus of giant tortoises known from the Early Miocene to the beginning of the Pleistocene in Europe, extending from the Iberian Peninsula to Anatolia.

[8] Phylogenetic analyses have recovered Titanochelon as most closely related to Stigmochelys (the leopard tortoise), which is native to Africa, suggesting the genus has an African origin.

[7][9][10] Fossils have been recovered from across Europe beginning in the Early Miocene from Portugal,[4] Spain, France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic,[11] Greece,[10] Bulgaria, and Anatolia.

[3] The youngest known definitive remains of the genus are known from the Early Pleistocene Fonelas P-1 site of Granada in southern Spain, dating to around 2.0 million years ago.

Their extinction was likely related to climatic cooling due to the onset of glaciation at the beginning of the Pleistocene.