Old Turtle vs. New Turtle (IMAGE)

University of the Witwatersrand

Old Turtle vs. New Turtle

Caption

A recent study on the oldest proto turtle, Eunotosaurus (left), suggests the broadening of the ribs in turtles was initially an adaptation for burrowing to escape the extremely arid environment of South Africa 260 million years ago. Later the ribs were incorporated into the modern protective turtle shell as found in Pelusios (right).

Credit

Luke Norton

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