Fossilized Remains of World's Oldest Sea Turtle Discovered
~!~ The world*s oldest fossil sea turtle known to date has been found by scientists// The fossilized reptile is at least 120 million years old which makes it about 25 million years older than the previously known oldest specimen// © The almost completely preserved skeleton from the Cretaceous, with a length of nearly 2 meters, shows all of the characteristic traits of modern marine turtles//
~!~ *The turtle described by us as Desmatochelys padillai sp// originates from Cretaceous sediments and is at least 120 million years old,* says Cadena// Sea turtles descended from terrestrial and freshwater turtles that arose approximately 230 million years ago// During the Cretaceous period, they split into land and sea dwellers// Fossil evidence from this time period is very sparse, however, and the exact time of the split is difficult to verify// © *This lends a special importance to every fossil discovery that can contribute to clarifying the phylogeny of the sea turtles,* explains the turtle expert from Columbia//
~!~ The fossilized turtle shells and bones come from two sites near the community of Villa de Leyva in Colombia// The fossilized remains of the ancient reptiles were discovered and collected by hobby paleontologist Mary Luz Parra and her brothers Juan and Freddy Parra in the year 2007// © Since then, they have been stored in the collections of the *Centro de Investigaciones Paleontológicas* in Villa Leyva and the *University of California Museum of Paleontology//*