Evolution Of Turtles And Tortoises

The evolution of turtles and tortoises has become a great deal clearer as a result of relatively recent fossil discoveries.

Earliest Turtle Origins

The earliest known turtle like creature was Eunotosaurus, which first crops up in the fossil record in the late Permian, about 260 million years ago. Despite several similarities to turtles, this creature has now been ruled out as an ancestor of this group.

There is a good deal of debate about the turtle-pareiasaur evolutionary link. However, despite significant evidence that turtles are related to Pareiasaurs there is still a great deal to be discovered about the exact origins of this group.

True Turtles

The earliest true turtle ancestor so far discovered is ancient water turtle Odontochelys semistestacea. The name means "toothed half shell turtle" which accurately describes it. This animal lived in what is now China about 220 million years ago.

The next major fossil find dates back to 210 million years. This animal is a land turtle called Proganochelys, meaning "first turtle". It has a full shell unlike Odontochelys, as well as several other modern turtle features such as a beak instead of teeth and its shoulders and hips inside its ribcage, which forms the shell.

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