The ribs of a 240 million-year-old fossil hold clues to how the first turtle shell evolved. And its skull shape seems closer to that of lizards and snakes than to an ancestor of dinosaurs and birds.

The shell itself is made from broadened and flattened ribs, fused to parts of the turtle’s backbone (so that unlike in cartoons, you couldn’t pull a turtle out of its shell).

It's a debate that's left more than a few scientists shell-shocked: Just how did the turtle come to acquire its unique suit of armor?

Turtle Bay weaves Thailand’s lush landscape with a quite literally green design, creating a cluster of cozy turtle shell-shaped structures. Inspired by the existing natural context of jungle ...

Why the Turtle Grew a Shell—It’s More Than Safety Its armor may have developed for more than safety. Danny Lewis. July 22, 2016. Get our newsletter! Get our newsletter!

In 2008, the discovery in China of a nearly 220 million years old fossil of an undisputed turtle precursor, represented a major advance in our understanding of the evolution of the turtle shell.

When we picture sea turtles in the wild, it's easy to envision them as armored warriors—their hard, resilient shells serving ...

The turtle has been in no rush to give up the secret of its shell — but after two centuries of close study, scientists are filling in the story of a structure unique in the history of life.New ...

The first turtle with a fully developed shell — a creature that would be clearly recognizable to almost everyone as a turtle — shows up in the fossil record about 214 million years ago. But the fossil ...