This one-ton turtle once ruled South America’s rivers — until a changing planet proved too much for even the largest ...

A half-shell turtle species that swam in China's coastal waters 220 million years ago is the oldest turtle known to date, a new analysis of fossils reveals. The turtle had a belly shell, but its back ...

How smushed shells could help to resolve paleontological mysteries. By Asher Elbein You never know where a bit of unusual scientific research is going to lead. Consider a 2012 study about turtle ...

Turtles have shells that they can hide inside of when they feel like they’re in danger or when they are feeling anti-social and want everything around them to disappear. On the other hand, do turtles ...

The fossilized remains of a bizarre-looking reptile are giving scientists new insights into how turtles got their distinctive shells. Some 240 million years ago, this early turtle-like creature lived ...

It's a long-held idea that turtles can tuck their heads into their shells when threatened. But is it true? And is this protective trick why turtles the world over have shells today? The answer is that ...

20150624_atc_how_the_turtle_got_its_shell.mp3?orgId=1&topicId=1007&d=145&p=2&story=416657576&t=progseg&e=417186679&seg=9&ft=nprml&f=416657576 Listen • 2:25 20150624 ...

A turtle’s shell makes for a great portable home, offering a huge amount of protection to the animal living inside. But this carapace is nothing more than an evolutionary byproduct of another ...

Hans-Dieter Sues - Curator, Paleontology, National Museum of Natural History In a fit of pique, according to one of Aesop's fables, the god Hermes made the animal carry its house forever on its back.