220m-year-old turtle fossils found

Newly discovered fossils of a primitive turtle species, the oldest of its kind found in the world, gives credence to the belief that turtles originated from an aquatic environment and its shell formed before its dorsal carapace, according to today's Nature magzine.

A group of Chinese and Canadian paleontologists were responsible for the discovery in May last year in Guizhou province.

The fossil dates back to the late Triassic period, 220 million years ago. The species had teeth, and more importantly, had no complete carapace, Li Chun, a scientist at the Beijing Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology and head of the research team, said.