From time to time, paleontologists come across strange finds that can only be called a game of nature. They even came up with a special Latin term for this, lusus naturae.
What should a scientist think when looking at a turtle fossil stuck in the jaw of a petrified elephant? .of course, that these very elephants ate these turtles.
In fact, it was probably the other way around. It is known that turtles willingly gnaw bones, because they contain calcium, which is very necessary for the shell. .most likely, this turtle also found an elephant's skull somewhere, started eating... but something went wrong. What, unfortunately, we don't know yet. Sourse:V. K.
🚨 Discovery alert! 🚨 Meet Palatobaena knellerorum, a new species of fossil turtle found by DMNS volunteer Sharon Milito at Corral Bluffs in 2019.
Palatobaena was a bottom dwelling turtle that lived in freshwater ponds and rivers. It had a very unusual skull that was broadly rounded, and eyes situated on top of its head. It had massive jaws, and the tip of its nose likely had a moveable proboscis (like an elephant's trunk) that it used to search and prey upon freshwater shelled invertebrates such as mollusks and gastropods.
The fossil was prepared by DMNS volunteer Jim Englehorn, and we named the species after Stephen and Mary Lynne Kneller in recognition of all of their support for Cretaceous/Paleogene research here at the DMNS. Palatobaena was recently described in a paper published in vertebrate paleontology's flagship journal: Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. The holotype specimen is on display in the After the Asteroid exhibit. #FossilFriday
Illustration by Andrey Atuchin.
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