Odontochelys, a transitional turtle


	Odontochelys, a transitional turtle

JohnWaterman

11-26-2008 3:54 PM

378 views

JohnWaterman says:

Yet more evidence for evolution (as if it were needed). Although as the commenter points out: fill one gap in the fossil record and two new ones are created

1 Comment |

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11-28-2008 3:37 AM

suzikoh

Thanks I've got this on facebook....
I was just contemplating on what I wanted to reincarnate in my next life.... She's a beauty.....
Odontochelys.... that'll be it....!

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<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/edfd985e-5623-4a27-ae61-8377d475304c/A124492E-9255-43DB-8924-6656659E5A96/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/11/odontochelys_a_transitional_tu.php" href="http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/11/odontochelys_a_transitional_tu.php" style="font-size: 11px;">scienceblogs.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/11/odontochelys_a_transitional_tu.php"><P class="lead">Now this is an interesting beast. It's a 220 million year old fossil from China of an animal that is distinctly turtle-like. Here's a look at its dorsal side:</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/11/odontochelys_a_transitional_tu.php"><div align="center"><img src="http://content8.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/scienceblogs.com/img/2032D30B-8A6A-4548-A98C-0E1C8E644E7B" alt="odontochelys_fossil.jpeg" /></div></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/11/odontochelys_a_transitional_tu.php"><P>Notice in the skull: it's got teeth, not just a beak like modern turtles. The back is also odd, for a turtle. The ribs are flattened and broadened, but…no shell! It's a turtle without a shell!</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/11/odontochelys_a_transitional_tu.php"><P>Flip it over. There's another specimen, and we can look down on its ventral side, and there it is — a plastron, or the belly armor.</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/11/odontochelys_a_transitional_tu.php"><div align="center"><img src="http://content9.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/scienceblogs.com/img/C93FE5D2-9463-4542-85DB-8D7212DD9291" alt="odontochelys_belly.jpeg" /></div></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/11/odontochelys_a_transitional_tu.php">So, what we have here is a long-legged, toothed reptile with an elongate body, and it also has a plastron like a turtle, and hints in the bony structure of the spine of the carapace-to-be. It also fits perfectly with the embryology: modern turtles form the plastron first, and the carapace second. This is a <I>beautiful</I> transitional form</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/11/odontochelys_a_transitional_tu.php">And here's a reconstruction of what they would have looked like, way back in the Triassic</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/11/odontochelys_a_transitional_tu.php"><div align="center"><img src="http://content6.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/scienceblogs.com/img/9417BC8A-1E6C-42ED-83FE-9C24ACF3A14F" alt="odontochelys.jpeg" /></div></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/11/odontochelys_a_transitional_tu.php"><H3 class="metaHeader">Comments</H3></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/11/odontochelys_a_transitional_tu.php"><P>Sigh. Two new gaps in the fossil record...</P></blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/A124492E-9255-43DB-8924-6656659E5A96/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content7.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>

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