"Why the turtle shell evolved is a very Dr. Seuss-like question and the answer seems pretty obvious—it was for protection,” Lyson says in a statement.

Those fossil reptiles had similarly formed shells to those of existing animals, offering palaeontologists few clues to how the turtle's distinctive shell evolved.

Through careful study of an ancient ancestor of modern turtles, researchers now have a clearer picture of how the turtles' most unusual shell came to be. The findings, reported on May 30 in ...

Measuring how much fat turtles are carrying under their shells has become a lot easier thanks to a James Cook University researcher.