Turtle Shells and Flying Pigs
9:33 pm
Diagram of IVPP V 13240, Paratype of Odontochelys semitestacea. After Li et al. 2008.
Zach Miller, who runs the blog When Pigs Fly Returns, has a good-sized post up about the origin of turtle shells, especially in light of the recent discoveries of Chinlechelys and Odontochelys. I’ve been trying to wrap my head around the same issues, and I’ve started by coming up with some color-coded diagrams of these unique Triassic testudines to look at how the different bones of the shell are expressed and interpreted. I’ll post more about them here eventually, but Zach’s been able to put them to good use in his latest post, How the Turtle Got Its Shell. Check it out!