Pappochelys | 3D Dinopedia

Pappochelys

Period of life:

242—235 million years ago

Period:

Triassic period

Habitat:

Freshwater environment

Taxonomy:

Turtles and tortoises

Height:

0.03 m

Countries:

Triassic period Pappochelys | 3D Dinopedia

Pappochelys (242—235 million years ago)

What the name means: "grandfather of turtles"

At the dawn of the Mesozoic era, a unique creature lived in what is now Germany, occupying an intermediate link in the evolutionary chain - Pappochelys. This ancient reptilian ancestor of turtles lived around 242—235 million years ago and was discovered in Middle Triassic deposits. The discovery of Pappochelys was a key moment in understanding the evolution of turtles, proving their origin from diapsids - a group of reptiles that includes animals such as lizards, snakes, crocodiles, and dinosaurs.

Pappochelys did not exceed 20 cm in length, and in appearance, it resembled a lizard with a long tail, which constituted half of its length. However, it had already begun to develop features characteristic of modern turtles. In particular, this concerns the gastralia - thickened abdominal ribs that formed a kind of armor on the belly. In Pappochelys, these ribs had already begun to fuse, thus heralding the appearance of a full shell, characteristic of its later descendants. Pappochelys had sharp teeth, not a beak like modern turtles. It likely fed on worms and other soft-bodied invertebrates. Heavy bones served as protection from predators and helped it stay at the bottom of water bodies, where it obtained food.

The skull structure of Pappochelys is particularly interesting. It had two temporal fenestrae, which is characteristic of diapsids, while modern turtles lack such openings, which for a long time cast doubt on their kinship with other diapsid reptiles. The presence of these openings in Pappochelys supports the hypothesis that modern turtles evolved from diapsids, losing the temporal fenestrae in the process of evolution.

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