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230-million-year-old turtle fossil deepens mystery of reptile's origins

Two-metre-long specimen could help researchers pin down how and when turtles developed traits such as their shell.
  1. Jeremy Rehm
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Illustration of E. sinensis opening its beak on the sea bed. In the background two fish and another E.sinesis swim among seaweed

An artist’s impression of Eorhynchochelys sinensis, a turtle ancestor that lived about 230 million years ago. Credit: Yu Chen

A fossilized turtle discovered in southwestern China fills an evolutionary hole in how the reptiles developed features such as a beak and shell, researchers report1 on 22 August in Nature. Although the specimen can help scientists to pin down when modern turtles developed such characteristics, it’s also muddied the waters when it comes to illuminating the group’s origins.

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doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-06012-0

References

  1. Li, C., Fraser, N. C., Rieppel, O. & Wu, X.-C. Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0419-1 (2018).

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  2. Li, C., Wu. X.-C., Rieppel, O., Wang, L.-T. & Zhao, L.-J. Nature 456, 497-501 (2008).

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  3. Schoch, R. R. & Sues, H.-D. Nature 523, 584-587 (2015).

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