Plastron (left) and carapace (right) of the new turtle species Dortoka vremiri from the Late Cretaceous of the Hateg Basin (Romania).
Plastron ( left ) and carapace ( right ) of the new turtle species Dortoka vremiri from the Late Cretaceous of the Hateg Basin (Romania) . Palaeobiologists from the University of Tübingen have described a previously unknown turtle species that lived in what is now Romania some 70 million years ago. The reptile, measuring 19 cm in length, has no close relatives now but is a member of the larger group of side-necked turtles that are today found mostly in the southern hemisphere. Its closest relative is recorded in more recent fossils dating to about 57 million years ago, also from Romania. This indicates the evolutionary lineage survived the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event 66 million years ago, which killed off at least 75 percent of all life forms, including the non-avian dinosaurs. University of Tübingen biogeologist Dr. Márton Rabi headed the research team, whose description of the species has been published in the latest Journal of Systematic Palaeontology . The species is named Dortoka vremiri , after Mátyás Vremir, a key researcher into Cretaceous vertebrate faunas who passed away in 2020. Working with colleagues from the University of Bucharest in Romania and from Hungary's Natural History Museum and Eöotvöos Loránd University, the team identified the turtle fossils from the HaĹŁeg Basin of Transylvania. The locality is one of the most important fossil sites for Late Cretaceous vertebrates in Europe, and is renowned for its insular fauna of dwarfed dinosaurs and other species. The site has a research history spanning more than 120 years. Evidence of Dortoka vremiri was found in the 1990s. The find provides a rare insight into selectivity during the end-Cretaceous mass extinction. How did this small turtle survive when most other species died out?
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