photo

An Ancient Turtle

an imagined illustration of an ancient sea turtle ancestor
(Nobu Tamura via Wikimedia Commons)

Eunotosaurus, a reptile who lived about 260 million years ago during the Permian period, is the earliest known ancestor of modern turtles. This animal had wide, elongated ribs, but had not developed an actual shell. It was also exclusively land-dwelling and had a full set of teeth.

Tags: Sea turtles