The terrestrial origins of the diapsid Sauropterygia and Testudines are uncertain, with the
latter being highly controversially discussed to this day. For only 15 Ma, Nothosauroidea …

Turtles have a highly modified body plan, including a rigid shell that constrains postcranial
anatomy. Skull morphology and neck mobility may therefore be key to ecological …

The turtle locomotor system is heavily modified owing to the severe impact of development
of the shell on the body plan of these reptiles. Although limb and girdle osteology of the …

Late Jurassic deposits across Europe have yielded a rich fauna of extinct turtles. Although
many of these turtles are recovered from marine deposits, it is unclear which of these taxa …

Animal morphological structure can influence behaviour and interaction with the
environment. Owing to their wide range of habitats, from aquatic to terrestrial, and their …

Various morphological proxies have been used to infer habitat preferences among fossil
turtles and their early ancestors, but most are tightly linked to phylogeny, thereby minimizing …

Impressions of vertebrate bodies or their parts, such as trace fossils and natural molds of
bones, are a valuable source of information about ancient faunas which may supplement the …

The humerus is central for locomotion in turtles as quadrupedal animals. Osteological
variation across testudine clades remains poorly documented. Here, we systematically …

The detailed morphological description of the skull of the stem turtle Heckerochelys romani
from the Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) of the Peski locality, Moscow Region, Russia, is …

The oldest published mention of a reptile skeleton identified at species level appears in the
“De quadrupedibus digitatis […],” issued posthumously in 1637 by Ulisse Aldrovandi, the …