New insights into the family tree of modern turtles
Monday, November 30, 2015 - 07:50
in Paleontology & Archaeology
Today's sea turtles are the sole survivors of a once diverse ecosystem of marine reptiles from the age of dinosaurs. Sea turtles first appeared during the Cretaceous period, 130-140 million years ago and likely evolved from freshwater ancestors. However, these ancestors have yet to be discovered. In a new study, Dr. Chang-Fu Zhou of the Shenyang Normal University of Liaoning and Dr. Márton Rabi of the Biogeology Workgroup of the University of Tübingen and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences seek to identify the ancestors of modern sea turtles among fossils of the Jehol Biota in northeastern China. Their findings were published in Scientific Reports this November.