Archaeologists discover fossil of ancient turtle species that never grew a shell
Mike Wehner
August 23rd, 2018 at 4:27 PM
When it comes to animals with iconic features, the turtle is high on the list. Deer have horns, kangaroos have pouches, humans have existential dread, and turtles have shells… right? Apparently that wasn’t always the case, as a new set of fossils from China reveals that some ancient turtles never bothered to grow a shell at all.
In a new paper published in Nature, researchers describe the discovery of an early turtle species called Eorhynchochelys sinensis. Nicknamed the “dawn beak turtle,†the animals lived around 228 million years ago, and they were massive in size. Measuring over six feet long, it would have been an intimidating sight, and its hardened beak and flat body match what we think of a turtle. Everything matches up, except for the shell.
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