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An ancestral hard-shelled sea turtle with a mosaic of soft skin and scutes

De La Garza, Randolph Glenn LU ; Madsen, Henrik ; Sjövall, Peter ; Osbӕck, Frank ; Zheng, Wenxia ; Jarenmark, Martin LU ; Schweitzer, Mary H. LU ; Engdahl, Anders LU ; Uvdal, Per LU and Eriksson, Mats E. LU , et al. (2022) In Scientific Reports 12(1).
Abstract

The transition from terrestrial to marine environments by secondarily aquatic tetrapods necessitates a suite of adaptive changes associated with life in the sea, e.g., the scaleless skin in adult individuals of the extant leatherback turtle. A partial, yet exceptionally preserved hard-shelled (Pan-Cheloniidae) sea turtle with extensive soft-tissue remains, including epidermal scutes and a virtually complete flipper outline, was recently recovered from the Eocene Fur Formation of Denmark. Examination of the fossilized limb tissue revealed an originally soft, wrinkly skin devoid of scales, together with organic residues that contain remnant eumelanin pigment and inferred epidermal transformation products. Notably, this stem... (More)

The transition from terrestrial to marine environments by secondarily aquatic tetrapods necessitates a suite of adaptive changes associated with life in the sea, e.g., the scaleless skin in adult individuals of the extant leatherback turtle. A partial, yet exceptionally preserved hard-shelled (Pan-Cheloniidae) sea turtle with extensive soft-tissue remains, including epidermal scutes and a virtually complete flipper outline, was recently recovered from the Eocene Fur Formation of Denmark. Examination of the fossilized limb tissue revealed an originally soft, wrinkly skin devoid of scales, together with organic residues that contain remnant eumelanin pigment and inferred epidermal transformation products. Notably, this stem cheloniid—unlike its scaly living descendants—combined scaleless limbs with a bony carapace covered in scutes. Our findings show that the adaptive transition to neritic waters by the ancestral pan-chelonioids was more complex than hitherto appreciated, and included at least one evolutionary lineage with a mosaic of integumental features not seen in any living turtle.

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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Scientific Reports
volume
12
issue
1
article number
22655
publisher
Nature Publishing Group
external identifiers
  • pmid:36587051
  • scopus:85145372322
ISSN
2045-2322
DOI
10.1038/s41598-022-26941-1
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
1e1e95f2-f431-4d47-bef7-0d7e07e021dc
date added to LUP
2023-01-16 16:03:24
date last changed
2025-04-04 14:46:39
@article{1e1e95f2-f431-4d47-bef7-0d7e07e021dc,
  abstract     = {{<p>The transition from terrestrial to marine environments by secondarily aquatic tetrapods necessitates a suite of adaptive changes associated with life in the sea, e.g., the scaleless skin in adult individuals of the extant leatherback turtle. A partial, yet exceptionally preserved hard-shelled (Pan-Cheloniidae) sea turtle with extensive soft-tissue remains, including epidermal scutes and a virtually complete flipper outline, was recently recovered from the Eocene Fur Formation of Denmark. Examination of the fossilized limb tissue revealed an originally soft, wrinkly skin devoid of scales, together with organic residues that contain remnant eumelanin pigment and inferred epidermal transformation products. Notably, this stem cheloniid—unlike its scaly living descendants—combined scaleless limbs with a bony carapace covered in scutes. Our findings show that the adaptive transition to neritic waters by the ancestral pan-chelonioids was more complex than hitherto appreciated, and included at least one evolutionary lineage with a mosaic of integumental features not seen in any living turtle.</p>}},
  author       = {{De La Garza, Randolph Glenn and Madsen, Henrik and Sjövall, Peter and Osbӕck, Frank and Zheng, Wenxia and Jarenmark, Martin and Schweitzer, Mary H. and Engdahl, Anders and Uvdal, Per and Eriksson, Mats E. and Lindgren, Johan}},
  issn         = {{2045-2322}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{Nature Publishing Group}},
  series       = {{Scientific Reports}},
  title        = {{An ancestral hard-shelled sea turtle with a mosaic of soft skin and scutes}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-26941-1}},
  doi          = {{10.1038/s41598-022-26941-1}},
  volume       = {{12}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}