We describe a new species of a giant tortoise of the genus Titanochelon from the locality
of Sandelzhausen in south Germany (MN5, Burdigalian/Langhian boundary, Early/Middle
Miocene). The material comprises at least two different individuals, one of which
is a male individual preserving large parts of the carapace and plastron and several
appendicular elements. The second individual is quite fragmented, preserving parts
of the bridge and the posterior rim of the carapace. The new species, Titanochelon
schleichi sp. nov., is the first species of a giant tortoise named from Germany and
allows reconstructing an important diversity and expansion of titanochelones in the
Western Palaearctic during the earlier parts of the Neogene.
