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Palaeontology

Turtle origins out to sea

Nature volume 456, pages 450–451 (2008)Cite this article

Various aspects of turtle evolution are the subject of vigorous debate among vertebrate palaeontologists. A newly described fossil species, the oldest yet discovered, adds grist to the mill.

During the Late Triassic, some 220 million years ago, primitive turtles about 40 centimetres in length were preserved in sedimentary deposits in what is now southwestern China. These fossils are examples of a new species of a very early turtle, named Odontochelys semitestacea, which is described by Li et al. on page 497 of this issue1 and which will change ideas about turtle origins and the evolution of their striking body plan.

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Figure 1: Differences in turtle ecology.

R. R. REISZ

References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Robert R. Reisz and Jason J. Head are in the Department of Biology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, Ontario L5L 1C6, Canada. robert.reisz@utoronto.ca,

    Robert R. Reisz & Jason J. Head

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  1. Robert R. Reisz
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  2. Jason J. Head
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Reisz, R., Head, J. Turtle origins out to sea. Nature 456, 450–451 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/456450a

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