Fossil discovery reveals ancient sea turtle's unique adaptations

All of today's sea turtle species have long, rigid flippers that allow them to swim in the depths of the ocean.

The newly identified fossil, however, has limbs that are thicker compared to those of modern-day sea turtles, in proportion to its body size.

According to scientists who reported their findings in the PLOS One journal on July 26, these shorter limbs indicate that Solnhofia Parsonsii swam in coastal waters instead of the open ocean.

The lead author of the study, Felix Augustin, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Tübingen in Germany, said, "The fossils of this sea turtle were first discovered in the 1970s, but the new specimen is the best-preserved example of this species. It is the first Jurassic sea turtle that preserves the entire skull, the entire shell, and also four complete limbs."

Augustin told CNN that S. parsonsi was approximately 30 centimeters long from nose to tail when alive, and its head was relatively large (10 centimeters).

The fossil was unearthed in 2014 from a limestone quarry in southeastern Germany, in a fossil-rich region dating back to the Jurassic Period (199.6 million to 145.5 million years ago).

The area preserves not only many turtles but also fish, crocodiles, as well as marine reptile giants like plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs.

The site has been actively used as a mine since the 1950s, but fossil excavations began only about 20 years ago.