When we picture sea turtles in the wild, it's easy to envision them as armored warriors—their hard, resilient shells serving ...

It's a debate that's left more than a few scientists shell-shocked: Just how did the turtle come to acquire its unique suit of armor?

"The turtle shell is a complex structure whose initial transformations started over 260 million years ago in the Permian period," says Tyler Lyson of Yale University and the Smithsonian.

Research had also indicated that turtle shell structures evolved over time from the broadening of rib bones that, over time, merged into a single unit. Such evidence was also present in the turtles ...

As turtle embryos develop, their shells grow directly from the animals' ribs, ... "This is very clear evidence that the shell is a composite structure," James Parham of the Field Museum in Chicago ...

"The turtle shell is a complex structure whose initial transformations started over 260 million years ago in the Permian period," says Tyler Lyson of Yale University and the Smithsonian.

The turtle's shell provides it with a formidable defence and one that is unique in the animal world. No other animal has a structure quite like it, and the bizarre nature of the turtle's anatomy also ...

Turtle shells are truly remarkable structures. As embryos, turtles’ bones begin to fuse, as ribs, shoulder bones, and vertebrae merge together to form the hard outer shell. That’s an ...

"The turtle shell is a complex structure whose initial transformations started over 260 million years ago in the Permian period," said lead author of the study, ...

The first turtle with a fully developed shell — a creature that would be clearly recognizable to almost everyone as a turtle — shows up in the fossil record about 214 million years ago. But the fossil ...

Turtles are fascinating creatures that have roamed the Earth for millions of years, outlasting dinosaurs and adapting to a wide variety of environments. Whether they’re gliding through the oceans, ...

A half-shell turtle species that swam in China's coastal waters 220 million years ago is the oldest turtle known to date, a new analysis of fossils reveals. The turtle had a belly shell, but its ...