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An ancestral turtle from the Late Triassic of southwestern China

Author

Listed:
  • Chun Li

    (Laboratory of Evolutionary Systematics of Vertebrates, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of SciencesPO Box 643, Beijing 100044, China)

  • Xiao-Chun Wu

    (Canadian Museum of Nature, PO Box 3443, Station D, Ottawa, Ontario K1P 6P4, Canada)

  • Olivier Rieppel

    (The Field Museum, 1400 South Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60605-2496, USA)

  • Li-Ting Wang

    (Geological Survey of Guizhou Province)

  • Li-Jun Zhao

    (Zhejiang Museum of Nature History)

Abstract

Turning turtle: how proto-turtles gained a shell A well preserved 220-million-year-old fossil from marine deposits of the Late Triassic of Guizhou in southwest China sheds light on the intermediate steps in the acquisition of the unique turtle body-plan. Transitional forms are scarce in this lineage, making this transition one of the mysteries of reptile evolution. The find is the most primitive turtle known. It has a fully developed plastron, the ventral dermal armour, evolved before the carapace, the dorsal (upper) part of the shell structure. In this fossil the carapace consists of neural plates only. This suggest that the carapace developed via ossification of the neural plates and broadening of the ribs — a sequence that echoes the developmental pattern in young turtles today.

Suggested Citation

  • Chun Li & Xiao-Chun Wu & Olivier Rieppel & Li-Ting Wang & Li-Jun Zhao, 2008. "An ancestral turtle from the Late Triassic of southwestern China," Nature, Nature, vol. 456(7221), pages 497-501, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:456:y:2008:i:7221:d:10.1038_nature07533
    DOI: 10.1038/nature07533
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    Cited by:

    1. M Habova & M Pyszko & O Horak & E Cermakova & V Paral, 2022. "Differences in the anatomy of the lower respiratory tract in selected species of the order Testudines," Veterinární medicína, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 67(2), pages 78-86.

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