Bavaria, as it is called today, was once a group of islands containing sponge reefs (sea sponge-produced reefs). The poor oxygen conditions of the area made it difficult for people to discover any of the marine life that had passed away in the waters.
150 million years later, scientists have been digging up a variety of fossils from this area. The skeletons range from feathered dinosaurs all the way to marine reptiles.
Now, one of the most recent discoveries in this area is a pancaked turtle. The journal PLOS One states, “The specimen represents an approach to marine life unlike that of any shelled reptile today.”
The turtle, discovered by paleontologist Felix Augustin from the University of Tübingen in Germany, is named Solnhofia. It is a new specimen recovered by a private collector in Painten, Germany, and has a total length of nine inches. It was found in Solnhofen limestone, giving it its name.
Paleontologists believe that this specimen is one of the most perfectly preserved fossils. Paleontologist Márton Rabi, also from the University of Tübingen, says, “It’s the most complete and preserved one so far.”
Solnhofen limestone has preserved other types of the first sea turtles, which adapted to freshwater and then to shallow seawater environments, like the habitats in Jurassic Bavaria.
Diversity was very great among the first sea turtles. Dr. Rabi analyzes that “In this southern German region, the diversity of sea turtles is surprisingly high.”
Although this is the case, many of the first sea turtles had features that differed slightly from modern ones. The lineage in which Solnhofia was found lacked the salt-removal glands on the modern sea turtle and the hard paddles on the open-water turtles of the Cretaceous Period. They also couldn’t have been able to distribute as much globally as modern sea turtles.
However, coastal, clawed sea turtles evolved several times in the Mesozoic Era and were a very successful species. Even though Solnhofia went extinct at the end of the Jurassic, its family stayed in the Eocene Epoch before finally vanishing.
The earliest models of the near-shore sea turtle disappeared with Solnhofia. The closest modern species to this former one is the Diamondback terrapin.
Turtles that can thrive in this ecosystem may not be gone. “Bottom-feeding coastal turtles appear to have evolved as a partial response to higher sea levels and the resulting boom in shallow, continental marine ecosystems—a setting that could make a return appearance.”
Dr. Rabi says, “With all the ice we’re now melting, in the future we might see this again.”
Sources:
New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/26/science/turtle-pancake-fossil.html
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sponge_reef
150 million years later, scientists have been digging up a variety of fossils from this area. The skeletons range from feathered dinosaurs all the way to marine reptiles.
Now, one of the most recent discoveries in this area is a pancaked turtle. The journal PLOS One states, “The specimen represents an approach to marine life unlike that of any shelled reptile today.”
The turtle, discovered by paleontologist Felix Augustin from the University of Tübingen in Germany, is named Solnhofia. It is a new specimen recovered by a private collector in Painten, Germany, and has a total length of nine inches. It was found in Solnhofen limestone, giving it its name.
Paleontologists believe that this specimen is one of the most perfectly preserved fossils. Paleontologist Márton Rabi, also from the University of Tübingen, says, “It’s the most complete and preserved one so far.”
Solnhofen limestone has preserved other types of the first sea turtles, which adapted to freshwater and then to shallow seawater environments, like the habitats in Jurassic Bavaria.
Diversity was very great among the first sea turtles. Dr. Rabi analyzes that “In this southern German region, the diversity of sea turtles is surprisingly high.”
Although this is the case, many of the first sea turtles had features that differed slightly from modern ones. The lineage in which Solnhofia was found lacked the salt-removal glands on the modern sea turtle and the hard paddles on the open-water turtles of the Cretaceous Period. They also couldn’t have been able to distribute as much globally as modern sea turtles.
However, coastal, clawed sea turtles evolved several times in the Mesozoic Era and were a very successful species. Even though Solnhofia went extinct at the end of the Jurassic, its family stayed in the Eocene Epoch before finally vanishing.
The earliest models of the near-shore sea turtle disappeared with Solnhofia. The closest modern species to this former one is the Diamondback terrapin.
Turtles that can thrive in this ecosystem may not be gone. “Bottom-feeding coastal turtles appear to have evolved as a partial response to higher sea levels and the resulting boom in shallow, continental marine ecosystems—a setting that could make a return appearance.”
Dr. Rabi says, “With all the ice we’re now melting, in the future we might see this again.”
Sources:
New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/26/science/turtle-pancake-fossil.html
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sponge_reef
