Newly identified softshell turtle lived alongside T. rex and Triceratops

The softshell turtle that lived in North Dakota at the end of the Cretaceous Period is one of the earliest known species.

Hutchemys walkerorum lived during a time when large and well-known dinosaurs also existed. The find adds important information to the understanding of softshell turtles, including the potential effects of the end-Cretaceous mass extinction, which took place in this same time period.

Steven Jasinski, who just completed his PhD in Penn's Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences in the School of Arts and Sciences, led the research. The research team was made up of Andrew Heckert and Spencer Lucas of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science.

Hutchemys walkerorum is a softshell turtle in the Trionychidae family. The bones covering the stomach and abdominal area of the plastomenine turtles are larger and more robust than those of the softshell turtles.

Around 80 million to 50 million years ago, plastomenines lived. The group first appeared in the fossil record during the Late Cretaceous, but they are at their peak diversity before and after the boundary of the Paleogene.

Jasinski says that until recently they didn't understand these softshell turtles very well.

The bones that cover the back and what people think of as a turtle were discovered in 1975 in southwestern North Dakota. The specimen was collected by a field crew from Appalachian State University. The fossil turtle specimen was discussed with Jasinski, a master's student at East Tennessee State University.

Jasinski was at Penn for his PhD and the research began around that time. The structure of the specimen led him and his colleagues to conclude that it was a turtle from the American West known as Hutchemys. Hutchemys walkerorum is one of the rare turtles that existed prior to the mass extinction event of the Age of Dinosaurs. It is the easternmost occurrence of the genus during the period.

The Age of Dinosaurs ended with a cataclysm, and with this study we gain further insight into winners andlosers.

The scientists were given a better understanding of the group's evolutionary relationships by comparing the new species with other known trionychids. Hutchemys walkerorum was placed with other known species of Hutchemys and several other turtles in a distinct group of derived plastomenines. The researchers found a group of early trionychids and placed them in a new sub family. The team believes the family Trionychidae originated in Asia before moving to North America.

The researchers discovered a new classification in the Trionychidae family, called Chitrainae. The softshell turtles found in southern Asia are included in this group.

The Greg and Susan Walker Endowment was created by Greg and Susan Walker. Students in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science may apply for funds to undertake research projects for which no other source of support is immediately available under the terms of the gift.

The Greg and Susan Walker Endowment awards research support, typically for projects costing up to $5,000, in response to proposals submitted to the endowment through the Department of Earth and Environmental Science.

The professors and advisors who approve the endowment do an awesome job in helping the students thrive, according to an administrator in the EES department.

The Walkers helped me get the most out of my time at Penn by giving me funds for this project and others. This was one of the main reasons we wanted to name this new species after them.

Research funds like the one established by the Walkers allow both undergrad and graduate students to pursue research that is not funded by their professors. Their creativity can bear fruit very early in their career. They learn to be scientists in this way.

More information: Steven E. Jasinski et al, A softshell turtle (Testudines: Trionychidae: Plastomeninae) from the uppermost Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Hell Creek Formation, North Dakota, USA, with implications for the evolutionary relationships of plastomenines and other trionychids, Cretaceous Research (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.cretres.2022.105172 Journal information: Cretaceous Research Citation: Newly identified softshell turtle lived alongside T. rex and Triceratops (2022, March 11) retrieved 11 March 2022 from https://phys.org/news/2022-03-newly-softshell-turtle-rex-triceratops.html This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.