A 260 million-year-old fossil has been determined to be the oldest ancestor of turtles found to date, revealing something about the reptile's mysterious past. Michelle Starr is CNET's science editor, ...

A new fossil discovered by researchers might leave fans of turtles a little shell-shocked. A study published in the journal Nature finds a fossil from a turtle roaming Earth 228 million years ago had ...

Modern turtles are synonymous with the shells that serve as protection from predators, but a recently discovered fossil from close to 230 million years ago suggests that the animals didn’t always have ...

In the past decade, scientists have discovered the fossilized remains of two prehistoric turtles that had a partial shell, but that lacked the toothless beak of modern turtles. Recently, however, a ...

When it comes to animals with iconic features, the turtle is high on the list. Deer have horns, kangaroos have pouches, humans have existential dread and turtles have shells…right? Apparently, that ...

When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The broad-shelled river turtle (Chelodina expansa) falls into a group known as side-neck turtles.

It's a long-held idea that turtles can tuck their heads into their shells when threatened. But is it true? And is this protective trick why turtles the world over have shells today? The answer is that ...