Story By: Ana Lacasa, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News 

Video Credit: CEN

This well-preserved shell of a huge prehistoric armoured mammal which could grow to the size of a Volkswagen Beetle has been found inside an abandoned school.

The shell of the glyptodon which is believed to be more than 10,000 years old was found by “urban explorers” in the abandoned Enrique Agustin Keen school in the town of Lobos, in the eastern Argentine province of Lobos.

The operation to remove the remains found the school involved the school authorities, an archaeologist and a palaeontologist after the urban explorers shard their find on social media.

The school was reportedly being used for “adventure tourism” and the shell was found among the tables in the school. The shell was 1.5 metres (4.8 feet) long and one metre (3.2 feet) high.

The prosecutor in charge of the Prosecution Specialised Unit in the Environment ordered the shell be recovered in order to preserve it, in accordance with the current law of archaeological heritage.

The remains are expected to be sent to the office of the General Direction of Heritage, Museums and City Centre of the city of Buenos Aires.

It is believed that its value on the black market could be more than 50,000 USD (38,654 GBP).

The Glyptodon was a genus of heavily armoured mammals of the subfamily Glyptodontinae – relatives of armadillos – which lived during the Pleistocene epoch.

The huge mammal was around the same size and weight as a Volkswagen Beetle.

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