An Update on Stem Turtles

The beaky noggin of Eorhynchochelys by...IVPP?

Couple things I need to talk about. First, it's been a very long time since I've blogged, which was not my intention (it never is). I hit a rough patch of writer's block, which was followed up by a 9-day stint at the hospital where I got a CF-related tune-up. Taxonomy Tuesday is not proving to be the rich well of inspiration I was hoping for, so while I still intend to write up Taxonomy Tuesdays, they almost certainly won't be weekly. Now then, right before I was admitted, I wrote this short post about a new stem turtle. I wrote about turtle origins way back in 2015 and I'm always excited when a new one pops up. Thankfully, in addition to this post, I'm halfway through essays about mesosaurs and tanystropheids, so regular blogging will commence soon.

The Secret (Fossil) Origin of the TMNT

Yes, even these Ninja Turtles.

What are turtles?

Everybody knows what turtles are. They're those reptiles that have enormous shells. Most turtles live in freshwater lakes and streams, but others are entirely terrestrial (tortoises) and a few are specialized for a marine life. The upper half of the shell is called the carapace and the "belly" shell is called the plastron. They lay a ton of eggs so that a few of the babies will survive to adulthood. Snapping turtles are really bad-ass and can bite your finger off.