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Very round ancient turtle warmed readily in Sun
New Scientist ^
| Thursday, July 12, 2012
| Will Ferguson
Posted on 07/13/2012 7:11:29 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Why be really, really round? It turns out that the precisely circular carapace of a newly discovered species of fossil turtle may have made the ancient creature too wide to be swallowed by predators - and helped it warm up in the sun.
Edwin Cadena at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, and colleagues, uncovered the 1.5 metre long fossil buried at the Cerrejón Coal Mine in north-western Colombia.
Puentemys mushaisaensis is thought to have lived 60 million years ago, shortly after the extinction of the dinosaurs. It is the most recent discovery in a string of super large reptiles found at the mine, including the extinct Titanoboa - at 15 metres, the longest snake known - and Carbonemys, a freshwater turtle the size of a small car.
Puentemys's round shape made it wide, which would have made it a hard snack for predators like Titanoboa to swallow. It may also have warmed the turtle up. "Its circular, low-domed shape would have increased the area of the body exposed to the sun, helping the cold-blooded turtle warm to a temperature at which it was more active," write Cadena's team in the Journal of Paleontology (DOI:10.1666/11-128R1.1).
The new turtle adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that tropical reptiles that walked the Earth shortly after the extinction of the dinosaurs were much bigger than their descendants today.
(Excerpt) Read more at newscientist.com ...
TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: cerrejon; columbia; godsgravesglyphs; turtle
Image: Edwin Cadena
1
posted on
07/13/2012 7:11:33 PM PDT
by
SunkenCiv
To: Renfield; StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; decimon; 1010RD; 21twelve; 24Karet; ...
2
posted on
07/13/2012 7:14:12 PM PDT
by
SunkenCiv
(https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
To: SunkenCiv
3
posted on
07/13/2012 7:22:11 PM PDT
by
muir_redwoods
(Legalize Freedom!!)
To: SunkenCiv
Just some turtle stuff:
The Sonoran Tortoise. I have many on my land. Life span up to 80 years, 90% of which is spent in a den hibernating or seeking shelter from the sun. Size averages about 12". They can go a year without water. Their urine is semi solid and if you pick one up it will empty its bladder on you.
4
posted on
07/13/2012 7:25:23 PM PDT
by
I see my hands
(It's time to.. KICK OUT THE JAMS, MOTHER FREEPERS!)
To: SunkenCiv
5
posted on
07/13/2012 7:28:38 PM PDT
by
1010RD
(First, Do No Harm)
To: I see my hands
If the Japanese find out about those tortoises, it’ll mean another (chronologically) adult website.
6
posted on
07/13/2012 7:43:11 PM PDT
by
SunkenCiv
(https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
To: 1010RD
Hey, they come in their own serving bowl.
7
posted on
07/13/2012 7:54:40 PM PDT
by
SunkenCiv
(https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
To: muir_redwoods
They tortoise this topic might be like this.
8
posted on
07/13/2012 8:03:01 PM PDT
by
SunkenCiv
(https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
To: SunkenCiv
9
posted on
07/13/2012 8:04:22 PM PDT
by
skr
(May God confound the enemy)
To: muir_redwoods
10
posted on
07/13/2012 8:19:16 PM PDT
by
Rides_A_Red_Horse
(If there is a war on women, the Kennedys are the Spec Ops troops.)
To: SunkenCiv
11
posted on
07/13/2012 11:19:34 PM PDT
by
Daffynition
(Our forefathers would be shooting by now.)
To: SunkenCiv
may have made the ancient creature too wide to be swallowed by predators The trick for them is escaping predators during those awkward years between hatching and being "too big to eat."
12
posted on
07/14/2012 1:57:01 AM PDT
by
Rocky
(Obama is pure evil)
To: Rocky
Or maybe they tasted terrible. There’s no fossil flavors. :’)
13
posted on
07/14/2012 5:08:48 AM PDT
by
SunkenCiv
(https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
To: SunkenCiv
No fossil flavors? Been to McDonald’s lately? I had a cheeseburger there that must have been from the Pleioscene.
*smarmy grin*
14
posted on
07/14/2012 5:31:53 AM PDT
by
WireAndWood
(The language department had a course called "Beginning Finnish". It really confused me.)
To: Daffynition
Luckily turtles can’t read, or even point and click.
15
posted on
07/14/2012 6:12:55 AM PDT
by
SunkenCiv
(https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
To: muir_redwoods
To: Starstruck
Testudines ednortoni (obscure Honeymooners reference)
17
posted on
07/14/2012 7:32:57 AM PDT
by
muir_redwoods
(Legalize Freedom!!)
To: SunkenCiv
Careful....
18
posted on
07/14/2012 10:28:57 AM PDT
by
Daffynition
(Our forefathers would be shooting by now.)
To: Daffynition
LOL! (:-D
great video..The gopher tortoise; had (looks like :) cat hair in it's beak...
hmm... "taste like cat, I'm going to eat you!"
19
posted on
07/14/2012 10:38:15 AM PDT
by
skinkinthegrass
(WA DC E$tabli$hment; DNC/RNC/Unionists...Brazilian saying: "$@me Old $hit; different flie$". :^)
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