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Published online 26 November 2008 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2008.1260
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How the turtle got its shell
Chinese fossil forces palaeontologists to rethink turtle origins.
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 in sediments deposited in the Nanpanjiang Trough Basin and dates back 220 million years — around 14 million years older than previous fossils found in Germany.
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Must say its a very interesting finding. But the one question that is ringing in my mind is that,if shells are disadvantageous for marine life and today's turles have reduced ones,then why did the carapace develop at all in the marine turles? Does this mean that after evolution in sea,turles actually came up on land and got the shells,and then for some reason they again went back to the sea where their shells reduced?