Thick-Shelled Turtle Species Lived With World's Biggest Snake

[Judi Lynn]

Thick-Shelled Turtle Species Lived With World's Biggest Snake, Reveals Fossil Found in Columbian Coal Mine

ScienceDaily (Apr. 6, 2010) — The discovery of a new fossil turtle species in Colombia's Cerrejón coal mine by researchers from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama and the Florida Museum of Natural History helps to explain the origin of one of the most biodiverse groups of turtles in South America.

Cerrejonemys wayuunaiki takes its genus name from Cerrejón, and emys -- Greek for turtle. Its species name is the language spoken by the Wayuu people who live on the Guajira Peninsula in northeastern Colombia near the mine.

About as thick as a standard dictionary, this turtle's shell may have warded off attacks by the Titanoboa, thought to have been the world's biggest snake, and by other, crocodile-like creatures living in its neighborhood 60 million years ago.

"The fossils from Cerrejón provide a snapshot of the first modern rainforest in South America -- after the big Cretaceous extinctions and before the Andes rose, modern river basins formed and the Panama land bridge connected North and South America," explains Carlos Jarmillo, staff scientist at the Smithsonian who studies the plants from Cerrejón.

More:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100406133714.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29

http://tayrona.org.nyud.net:8090/colombia%20parques/mina_de_cerrejon/cerrejon_01.jpg

Cerrejón mine, Colombia

[lazarus]

1. neat

my daughter will love this, she's a turtle freak.

[AmandaMae]

2. fascinating. I love turtles.