Turtle shells evolved over the course of 300 million years, but self-defense wasn't the initial driver, researchers think.

A 260 million-year-old fossil has been determined to be the oldest ancestor of turtles found to date, revealing something about the reptile's mysterious past. Michelle Starr is CNET's science editor, ...

An artist's reconstruction shows the stem-turtle Pappochelys in this image released to Reuters on June 23, 2015. REUTERS/Rainer Schoch/Stuttgart Natural History Museum/Handout By Will Dunham ...

There are a couple of key features that make a turtle a turtle: its shell, for one, but also its toothless beak. A newly-discovered fossil turtle that lived 228 million years ago is shedding light on ...

Gareth Dyke does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their ...

A research team led by NYIT scientist Gaberiel Bever has determined that a 260-million year-old fossil species found in South Africa's Karoo Basin provides a long awaited glimpse into the murky ...

Paleobiologists have discovered exceptional specimens in Venezuela and Colombia of an extinct giant freshwater turtle called Stupendemys. The carapace of this turtle, which is the largest ever known, ...

The shells of turtles, tortoises, and sea turtles show a remarkable connection to our 20th-century nuclear history. This astounding revelation comes to light in a new study, which casts an enduring ...

Grist is a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future. A new study found trace amounts of nuclear waste in sea turtles in the ...

Where do turtles belong on the evolutionary tree? For decades, the mystery has proven as tough to crack as the creatures’ shells. With their body armor and retractable heads, turtles are such unique ...

There are a couple of key features that make a turtle a turtle: its shell, for one, but also its toothless beak. A newly-discovered fossil turtle that lived 228 million years ago is shedding light on ...