Something fold, something new: Evolutionary morphology of the turtle shell

Contact: Douglas Sipp [email protected] TEL: +81-78-306-3043 RIKEN CDB, Office for Science Communications and International Affairs Something fold, something new: Evolutionary morphology of the turtle shell July 10, 2009 – The elephant’s trunk, the giraffe’s neck, the bat’s wing all provide examples of how evolution tinkers with preexisting body parts, giving rise to adaptations that are simultaneously new and familiar. But there are also cases in which a novelty enters the body plan without evident precursors, defying explanation by such bricolage. The turtle’s shell, or carapace, is one such invention; it appears to have burst into the fossil record with almost no prior inkling of its emergence.