The discovery, in China, of the oldest known turtle fossil has turned palaeontologists' understanding of the species' origin and ecology on its head. The fossil of Odontochelys semitestacea was found ...

Turtles with shell-cracking jaws were far more likely to survive extinction due to their ability to be sustained on a restricted diet.

Cartoons often suggest turtles wear shells like removable armor. Those stories show turtles stepping out, swapping shells, or treating them like clothing. Biology disagrees. A turtle shell is not an ...

By studying the chemical fingerprints inside each layer, scientists have been able to learn about the turtles’ lives and the ...

Every young boy has spent at least one afternoon digging a hole in the ground looking for some kind of treasure. An eight-year-old from South Africa was doing just that when he unearthed a turtle ...

The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results. Grégory Bulté, an ...

Techniques developed to study the distant past—from dating ancient artifacts to reconstructing climate records in ice cores—are now being repurposed to help us better understand the lives of modern ...

On a warm April afternoon, turtles gather on logs and rocks to absorb sunlight. Basking in the sun plays a critical role in ...

Repair of injured turtle shells can be difficult and time-consuming. This article describes how to manage the freshwater turtle in this phase of healing and how to keep fracture sites 'water-free'.