Ancestor fossil turtle

American paleontologists said they discovered a fossil, thereby providing clues about the initial evolution of the natural development of tortoise shells.

This fossil of a reptile some 260 million years ago from South Africa, scientifically named Eunotosaurus africanus, is considered the earliest version of a turtle. The highlight is its T-shaped ribs that represent the first step in the evolution of the hard shell of the current tortoise.

Gabriel Bever, an anatomy professor at New York Institute of Technology, said his team thoroughly described the entire bone section to see that Eunotosaurus africanus shares many features with modern turtle shells, which include Both describe the anatomy of the muscular system. This data helps reinforce the view that Eunotosaurus is an important link to the evolutionary chain for modern turtles. This is a previous version of the turtle.

Researchers say the oldest reptile known as the turtle previously discovered in China dates back to 220 million years old. So Eunotosaurus is an earlier version of 40 million years. Because it is an early version of the turtle, Eunotosaurus lacks many of the structure features of the turtle body such as the belly section or the turtle's overalls, which will be controversial.

However, UPI news agency quoted Tyler Lyson from Yale University as saying that special ribs are strong evidence that Eunotosaurus is the first chapter in the story of turtle development.