Very round ancient turtle warmed readily in Sun

New Scientist ^ | Thursday, July 12, 2012 | Will Ferguson

[SunkenCiv]

Why be really, really round? It turns out that the precisely circular carapace of a newly discovered species of fossil turtle may have made the ancient creature too wide to be swallowed by predators - and helped it warm up in the sun.

Edwin Cadena at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, and colleagues, uncovered the 1.5 metre long fossil buried at the Cerrejón Coal Mine in north-western Colombia.

Puentemys mushaisaensis is thought to have lived 60 million years ago, shortly after the extinction of the dinosaurs. It is the most recent discovery in a string of super large reptiles found at the mine, including the extinct Titanoboa - at 15 metres, the longest snake known - and Carbonemys, a freshwater turtle the size of a small car.

Puentemys's round shape made it wide, which would have made it a hard snack for predators like Titanoboa to swallow. It may also have warmed the turtle up. "Its circular, low-domed shape would have increased the area of the body exposed to the sun, helping the cold-blooded turtle warm to a temperature at which it was more active," write Cadena's team in the Journal of Paleontology (DOI:10.1666/11-128R1.1).

The new turtle adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that tropical reptiles that walked the Earth shortly after the extinction of the dinosaurs were much bigger than their descendants today.

[SunkenCiv]

Image: Edwin Cadena

[SunkenCiv]

GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother & Ernest_at_the_Beach	join list or digest view topics view or post blog bookmark post a topic subscribe
Thanks Renfield. To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.

[muir_redwoods]

Frisbeesaurus?

[I see my hands]

Just some turtle stuff:

The Sonoran Tortoise. I have many on my land. Life span up to 80 years, 90% of which is spent in a den hibernating or seeking shelter from the sun. Size averages about 12". They can go a year without water. Their urine is semi solid and if you pick one up it will empty its bladder on you.

[1010RD]

It’s a cook book!

[SunkenCiv]

If the Japanese find out about those tortoises, it’ll mean another (chronologically) adult website.

[SunkenCiv]

Hey, they come in their own serving bowl.

[SunkenCiv]

They tortoise this topic might be like this.

[skr]

Lol!!!

[Rides_A_Red_Horse]

Gamara!

[Daffynition]

[Rocky]

may have made the ancient creature too wide to be swallowed by predators

The trick for them is escaping predators during those awkward years between hatching and being "too big to eat."

[SunkenCiv]

Or maybe they tasted terrible. There’s no fossil flavors. :’)

[WireAndWood]

No fossil flavors? Been to McDonald’s lately? I had a cheeseburger there that must have been from the Pleioscene.

*smarmy grin*

[SunkenCiv]

Luckily turtles can’t read, or even point and click.

[Starstruck]

Soupasaurus

[muir_redwoods]

Testudines ednortoni (obscure Honeymooners reference)

[Daffynition]

Careful....

[skinkinthegrass]

LOL! (:-D
great video..The gopher tortoise; had (looks like :) cat hair in it's beak...
hmm... "taste like cat, I'm going to eat you!"