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 ...

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 ...

Learn how researchers use archaeological techniques to show how sea turtle shells grow in layers that capture chemical clues about diet, movement, and ocean change over time.

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

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

Turtles that crushed hard-shelled prey like clams and snails were reported to be more than five times more likely to survive ...

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 ...

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 ...

The fossilized remains of a bizarre-looking reptile are giving scientists new insights into how turtles got their distinctive shells. Some 240 million years ago, this early turtle-like creature lived ...

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'.