Rare Embryo Found Inside Prehistoric Turtle Egg
Language
Reading Level
Listen to Article
The Henan Province in central China is a treasure trove of dinosaur eggs. However, the odd-looking black orb with a blue tint, presented to Fenglu Han and Haishui Jiang by a farmer in 2018, was unlike any dinosaur egg the experts had encountered before. The paleontologists from the China University of Geosciences initially thought the egg might belong to a new species of the prehistoric giants.
However, a closer examination revealed that the tennis-ball-sized fossil housed a well-preserved embryo of an extinct prehistoric turtle called the nanhsiungchelyid. The massive land-dwelling animals roamed North America and Asia during the Cretaceous period — from 145 to 66 million years ago.
The discovery is extremely exciting given that intact turtle eggs from the Cretaceous period are hard to find. They are usually too small and too fragile to survive. The few fossil embryos discovered in the past were not well-preserved enough to identify the turtle species.
"This is actually the first time that [fossil] turtle eggs or a nest really could be attributed to a particular turtle," study co-author and University of Calgary paleontologist Professor Darla Zelenitsky told CBC.
The scientists believe the newly-found turtle egg managed to remain unscathed for 90 million years due to its large size and sturdy shell. Measuring 2.1 by 2.3 inches (5.4 by 5.9 centimeters), it is just a tad smaller than the eggs laid by the massive Galápagos tortoises. Its 0.07- inch-thick (1.8 millimeters), shell — about four times thicker than that of Galápagos tortoise eggs — was able to withstand outside forces and help retain much-needed water. Since part of the shell is broken, Zelenitsky wonders if the turtle failed in its attempt to hatch.
Based on the size of the egg, the researchers estimate that the parents' carapace was a staggering 5.3-feet (1.6 meters) in length. Add in the neck or head length, and the massive animal was probably as tall as an average human!
The team, who published their findings in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B on August 18, 2021, theorize that the species went extinct when the weather changed. Zelenitsky says, "While these turtles' unique terrestrial lifestyle, thick eggs, and underground nesting strategy may have served them well during the Cretaceous, it's possible that these specialized turtles couldn't adapt to the cooler climatic and environmental changes following the end-Cretaceous mass extinction."
Resources: Livescience.com, Nationalgeographic.com
Get the Workbook for this article!
Workbook contains: Article, Reading Comprehension, Critical Thinking Questions, Vocabulary in Context (+ answers), Multiple Choice Quiz (+ answers), Parts of Speech Quiz (+ answers), Vocabulary Game (+ answers)Cite Article
Learn Keywords in this Article
185 Comments
- kenziebaggett1about 3 yearsthats very cool!
- wings-of-fireabout 3 yearsi know right
- 7catsabout 3 yearsWow
- soggybread_7about 3 yearsthats an old turtle
- tinafireabout 3 yearsThat is so cool
- vylycowo-163099336441about 3 yearswow I never new creatures like that could get so big
- vylycowo-163099336441about 3 yearsdo you know that there are still dinos out there lizards are dinos and birds are evolved pterosaurs I still find it really amazing what is your favourite dino please reply mine is allasoures
- emocutieabout 3 yearsMine is a velocirapter
- i_love_chickenabout 3 yearsYeah! thats amazing!
- Patricia Catesabout 3 yearsThis article was very fascinating!
- idkwhattodohereabout 3 yearsFun fact: gators and crocs actually have distant relatives that were dinosuars! (sorry im not that good at spelling but idk ;-;)
- puppy1lover1234about 3 yearscool
- randomperson095about 3 yearsits very interesting how long items like this can survive