University Of Tübingen Research Team Describes Sea Turtles From The Upper Jurassic
A perfectly preserved turtle fossil from Lower Bavaria allows conclusions to be drawn about the physique of the animal species and its habitat in southern Germany 150 million years ago. Solnhofia parsonsi’s fore and hind limbs are comparatively short, suggesting that the turtle lived near the coast. Today’s sea turtles, on the other hand, have extremely elongated fins and live in the open sea.
“It has never before been possible to describe a Solnhofia individual in which the extremities are so completely preserved,” says Felix Augustin from the Biogeology Working Group at the University of Tübingen, who has now published the find in the journal PLOS ONE. The carapace and head of Solnhofia parsonsi are also clearly visible. The snout is long and pointed, the head is triangular and measures almost half the length of the shell at just over 9 centimeters. “Solnhofia may have used its large head and beak to crush hard food, such as shelled invertebrates. But that doesn’t mean that she only fed on it,” explains Márton Rabi from the University of Tübingen and co-author of the study.
The genus name Solnhofia refers to the limestone from Solnhofen. The place of the same name is located south of Nuremberg in the Altmühltal. Fossils of the world-famous primeval bird Archeopteryx and many flying and marine dinosaurs were also found there. The layers of Solnhofen limestone, which are productive for fossil finds, run along the entire Altmühltal. The tortoise fossil Solnhofia parsonsi was found in a quarry in Painten that has only been systematically digging for fossils for about 20 years.
“The very good preservation of the fossils from the lithographic limestone can be explained by the environmental conditions at the time,” says Andreas Matzke from the University of Tübingen and co-author of the study. 150 million years ago southern Germany lay in a shallow and tropical sea with many islands and reefs separating basins from the open sea. Floating particles were deposited on the bottom of the pool and formed layers of limestone. If an animal died, its remains also sank to the ground. Due to the low exchange of water masses with the open sea, the oxygen content there was so low and the salt content so high that dead plants and animals did not rot. The plant and animal remains were preserved and petrified in the limestone layer – often in a unique wealth of detail.
The region is therefore considered one of the world’s most important sites for finding fossils from the Mesozoic, which began around 250 million years ago and lasted until the great extinction of the dinosaurs 66 million years ago.
The turtle fossil Solnhofia parsonsi underscores the importance of the relatively newly discovered Painten site. The fossils of vertebrates found there from the lithographic limestone are now being scientifically examined bit by bit. The dinosaur museum in Denkendorf exhibits the finds. Solnhofia parsonsi can also be admired there.