Renewed scrutiny of decades-old fossils from Colombia has resulted in a surprising discovery: specimens previously thought to be from plants have been found to actually be the remains of baby turtles.
The findings were published recently in the journal Palaeontologia Electronica. Fabiany Herrera and his student Héctor Palma-Castro of the Field Museum in Chicago had undertaken an examination of fossils unearthed between the 1950s and 1970s in Colombia. The specimens were collected near the town of Villa de Levya by Catholic priest Padre Gustavo Huertas.
A subset of the fossils, appearing to represent the leaves of plants, were classified by the priest in 2003 as belonging to the plant species Sphenophyllum colombianum.
But the classification didn’t quite sit right with Herrera and Palma-Castro. For one, Huertas’ specimens were Early Cretaceous rocks dating back to the time of the dinosaurs, some 132 to 113 million years ago. But all other known species of the genus Sphenophyllum died out over 100 years before then.
“We spent days searching through wooden cabinets for fossil plants,” said Palma-Castro, recounting the pair’s efforts to study the unusual specimens. “When we finally found this fossil, deciphering the shape and margin of the leaf proved challenging.”
“When you look at it in detail, the lines seen on the fossils don’t look like the veins of a plant – I was positive that it was most likely bone,” said Herrera.
Upon closer examination, Herrera and Palma-Castro discovered the fossils actually originated from hatchling turtles between 0 and 1 years old. Turtles’ shells are thin and fragile at that early stage of development, meaning it’s uncommon to find such fossilized remains. That makes the pair’s discovery rare and important for scientists in the field.
Recalling a character from the Pokemon video game that’s part-turtle, part-plant, researchers nicknamed the specimens “Turtwig.”
“In the Pokémon universe, you encounter the concept of combining two or more elements, such as animals, machines, plants, etc.,” said Palma-Castro. “So, when you have a fossil initially classified as a plant that turns out to be a baby turtle, a few Pokémon immediately come to mind. In this case, Turtwig, a baby turtle with a leaf attached to its head.”
“In paleontology, your imagination and capacity to be amazed are always put to the test. Discoveries like these are truly special because they not only expand our knowledge about the past but also open a window to the diverse possibilities of what we can uncover.”
The researchers say they hope their discovery will prompt further investigation of fossils from Colombia and spark more interest in paleontology.