In a brand-new research study, released in the journal Palaeontologia Electronica, researchers re-examined these “plant” fossils and found that they werent plants at all: they were the fossilized remains of baby turtles.
Cadena and his student, Diego Cómbita-Romero of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, even more took a look at the specimens, comparing them with the shells of both fossil and modern-day turtles. “When we saw the specimen for the first time I was astonished, because the fossil was missing the normal marks on the exterior of a turtles shell,” says Cómbita-Romero. At that moment we understood that the noticeable part of the fossil was the other side of the carapace, we were looking at the part of the shell that is inside the turtle.”
When you have a fossil initially classified as a plant that turns out to be a child turtle, a couple of Pokémon immediately come to mind.
Mistaken Identity
” We went to the fossil collection at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia in Bogotá and started looking at the plants, and as quickly as we photographed them, we believed, this is unusual,” states Herrera, who has been gathering Early Cretaceous plants from northwestern South America, an area of the world with little paleobotanical work.
In the beginning look, the fossils, about 2 inches in diameter, looked like rounded nodules consisting of the maintained leaves of the plant Sphenophyllum. Herrera and Palma-Castro observed essential features that werent rather.
Drawing highlighting the rib and back bones, superimposed onto the fossil. Credit: Photo by Fabiany Herrera and Héctor Palma-Castro; drawing by Edwin-Alberto Cadena and Diego Cómbita-Romero.
” We spent days searching through wooden cabinets for fossil plants. When we finally discovered this fossil, figuring out the shape and margin of the leaf showed difficult,” states Palma-Castro.
” When you take a look at it in information, the lines seen on the fossils dont appear like the veins of a plant– I was favorable that it was most likely bone,” says Herrera. He reached out to an old colleague of his, Edwin-Alberto Cadena.
” They sent me the images, and I said, “This absolutely looks like a carapace– the bony upper shell of a turtle,” states Cadena, a paleontologist who concentrates on turtles and other vertebrates at the Universidad del Rosario in Bogotá. When he saw the scale of the pictures, Cadena recalls, “I said, Well, this is exceptional, due to the fact that this is not just a turtle, but its also a hatchling specimen, its very, extremely small.”
Cadena and his student, Diego Cómbita-Romero of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, further examined the specimens, comparing them with the shells of both fossil and contemporary turtles. “When we saw the specimen for the very first time I was astonished, because the fossil was missing the normal marks on the exterior of a turtles shell,” says Cómbita-Romero. It was a little bit concave, like a bowl. At that minute we recognized that the noticeable part of the fossil was the other side of the carapace, we were taking a look at the part of the shell that is inside the turtle.”
Details in the turtles bones assisted the researchers estimate how old it was at death. “Turtle development rates and sizes differ,” says Cómbita-Romero, so the team took a look at features like the density of its carapace and the areas where its ribs were knitting together into solid bone. “This is a function uncommon in hatchlings but observed in juveniles. All this info recommends that the turtle most likely passed away with a slightly developed carapace, between 0 to 1 years old, in a post-hatchling stage,” he says.
The Significance of the Discovery
” This is actually really rare to find hatchlings of fossil turtles in general,” states Cadena. “When the turtles are really young, the bones in their shells are extremely thin, so they can be easily destroyed.”
The researchers say that the rarity of fossilized infant turtles makes their discovery a crucial one. “These turtles were likely relatives of other Cretaceous types that were up to fifteen feet long, but we dont understand much about how they really grew to such giant sizes,” states Cadena.
The scientists dont fault Padre Huertas for his mistake– the preserved shells really do resemble many fossil plants. The functions that Huertas idea were leaves and stems are really the modified rib bones and vertebrae that make up a turtles shell. Cómbita-Romero and Palma-Castro nicknamed the specimens as “Turtwig,” after a Pokémon thats half-turtle, half-plant.
” In the Pokémon universe, you come across the idea of integrating two or more elements, such as animals, devices, plants, and so on. When you have a fossil at first categorized as a plant that turns out to be a child turtle, a few Pokémon right away come to mind. In this case, Turtwig, an infant turtle with a leaf connected to its head,” states Palma-Castro.” In paleontology, your creativity and capability to be surprised are always tested. Discoveries like these are truly special because they not only expand our understanding about the past however also open a window to the varied possibilities of what we can discover.”
Re-Evaluating Historical Collections
The researchers also note the importance of these fossils in the bigger scheme of Colombian paleontology. “We resolved a small paleobotanical mystery, however more importantly, this study shows the requirement to re-study historic collections in Colombia. The Early Cretaceous is an important time in land plant advancement, particularly for blooming plants and gymnosperms. Our future job is to find the forests that grew in this part of the world,” says Herrera.
Reference: “An Early Cretaceous Sphenophyllum or a hatchling turtle?” by Héctor D. Palma-Castro, Diego A. Cómbita-Romero, Edwin-Alberto Cadena, Mónica R. Carvalho and Fabiany Herrera, December 2023, Palaeontologia Electronica.DOI: 10.26879/ 1306.
This task was supported by the National Geographic Society, grant (EC-96755R-22) Discovering Early Cretaceous Floras from Northern South America & & the Negaunee Integrative Research Center, Field Museum.
The fossil that was originally analyzed to be a plant, however researchers have actually now found is the inside of the shell of a baby turtle. Credit: Fabiany Herrera and Héctor Palma-Castro
Researchers nicknamed the fossil “Turtwig” after a Pokemon thats half-turtle, half-plant.
From the 1950s to the 1970s, a Colombian priest called Padre Gustavo Huertas collected rocks and fossils near a town called Villa de Levya. Two of the specimens he discovered were little, round rocks patterned with lines that looked like leaves; he classified them as a type of fossil plant. But in a new study, released in the journal Palaeontologia Electronica, scientists re-examined these “plant” fossils and discovered that they werent plants at all: they were the fossilized remains of baby turtles.
” It was genuinely surprising to discover these fossils,” says Héctor Palma-Castro, a paleobotany trainee at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia.
The plants in concern had been explained by Huertas in 2003 as Sphenophyllum colombianum. The fossils originate from Early Cretaceous rocks, between 132 and 113 million years ago, throughout the dinosaurs era. Fossils of Sphenophyllum colombianum were surprising at this time and location– the other recognized members of the genus Sphenophyllum died out more than 100 million years prior. The plants age and area piqued the interest of Fabiany Herrera, the Negaunee assistant manager of fossil plants at the Field Museum in Chicago, and his student, Palma-Castro.