A Thin-Shelled Reptile From The Late Triassic Of North America And The Origin Of The Turtle Shell

The origin of the turtle shell has long puzzled scientists, mostly because the early fossil record of the group is so poor.


A team of scientists led by Walter Joyce at Yale University recently discovered a new fossil turtle from New Mexico that sheds light on this problem. The new turtle is extremely thin-shelled and consequently did not preserve easily. Furthermore, the ribs are not tightly connected with the remaining shell as seen in living turtles.


This indicates that the turtle shell is evolutionarily not an outgrowth of the ribs, but rather a composite made of the ribs and the overlying bony skin.


Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences


Proceedings B is the Royal Society's flagship biological research journal, dedicated to the rapid publication and broad dissemination of high-quality research papers, reviews and comment and reply papers. The scope of journal is diverse and is especially strong in organismal biology.


Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences