Scientists have discovered an ancient soft-shelled turtle that they say lived at the same time as Tyrannosaurus Rex and triceratops in North Dakota 66.5 million years ago. Turtles are hardy creatures, but they were not expected to be this hardy.
This fossilized creature is one of the earliest known species of soft-shelled turtle that lived during the late Cretaceous period, just before the mass extinction event of the dinosaurs, according to a new study published Thursday in the journal Cretaceous Research.
The soft-shelled turtle that survived the extinction of the dinosaurs
Research advisor Peter Dodson said: “And we learned more about extinct species. It seems that the dinosaurs we thought were powerful didn’t survive, and this turtle survived.”
The fossil of the new turtle species was discovered in 1975 along with a triceratops specimen in the Hell Creek Formation in North Dakota. However, the fossil was preserved at the University of Appalachian State until research began in 2013.
Scientific name hutchemys walkerorum, the tortoise resembles soft-shell turtles found today, including giant soft-shell turtles from South Asia. However, it can be seen that the species whose fossil was found has larger and stronger bones covering its stomach and abdomen.
Researchers say it was a very rare event to find an occurrence of these turtles before the dinosaurs went extinct. “We’re starting to learn more about this extinct group of turtles and better understand their evolution, including how they coped with mass extinction,” says environmental scientist Steven Jasinski, who led the study.
The newly discovered subfamily of soft-shelled turtles originated in Asia, possibly during the mid to late early Cretaceous, and migrated to North America during the late Cretaceous, the researchers note.
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