🐢💫 Da Pancaked Turtle Fossil’s Story, 150 Million Years In Da Making!

⬇️ Pidgin | ⬇️ ⬇️ English

Back den, today’s Bavaria in Germany was one shallow tropical archipelago wit sponge reefs during da Late Jurassic Period. Da water was so salt, like da kine bag of chips, and no more oxygen, so no scavengers mess wit da dead animals inside da lagoons. 🌊🏝️

Now, 150 million years later, da scientists all happy, cuz dey pulling out complete fossils of fishes, marine reptiles, pterosaurs, and feathered dinosaurs like Archaeopteryx from da Solnhofen Limestone. Talk about one ancient treasure chest! 💎🦖

And now, get da latest find, one beautiful, but pancaked turtle, named Solnhofia. Dis bugger tells us how turtles first wen hit da ocean waves, surfing all da way. 🐢🌊

Dis specimen, da whole nine-inch animal, was found by one private collector from one quarry near da German city of Painten. “It’s da most complete and best preserved one so far,” said Márton Rabi, one paleontologist at da University of Tübingen in Germany. No kidding, braddah! 👨‍🔬🔍

But dis kine preservation get some good and some bad. Dem anatomists like da kind skeletons wea you can flip da bones around, study ’em real good. But dis one, no can do dat, and hard for scan ’em too cuz dey flat and big. But still cool, yeah? 🦴💻

Solnhofen preserved oddah first sea turtles too, dat wen evolve from da land kind before going to freshwater and den to da shallow ocean in Jurassic Bavaria. “In dis southern German region, da sea turtles all kine different,” Dr. Rabi said. More species than now, and some not even get name yet! 🐢🌴

And dey different from da modern turtles too. Solnhofia’s family nevah have da stiff paddles like da open-water turtles today, and maybe nevah even get da salt-removal glands. “Modern sea turtles, dey go all over da place, make crazy long trips. Da Jurassic ones no can do dat,” Dr. Rabi said. But still, dey had da Aloha spirit! 🌺🌍

Dose coastal turtles, wit claws, dey did good in da Mesozoic Era, evolving plenty times. Solnhofia wen go extinct when da sea levels wen go down, but da family stuck around, even through da extinction of da dinosaurs, evolving weird ones wit cue-ball shaped heads. 🦕🎱

Finally, dey wen disappear, leaving us wit da modern Diamondback terrapin. But Dr. Rabi tink maybe get chance fo’ see da bottom-feeding coastal turtles again. “Wit all da ice we now melting, in da future we might see dis again,” he said. 🌎❄️

So, dis old pancaked turtle, Solnhofia, wen tell us one long story, 150-million-year-old one, about life, evolution, and da ocean. A true Hawaiian tale, dat keeps on giving, from da ancient world to da modern times, and maybe even da future. Aloha, Solnhofia, and mahalo for da story! 🐢🌅🤙

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NOW IN ENGLISH

🐢💫 The Pancaked Turtle Fossil’s Story, 150 Million Years In The Making!

Back then, today’s Bavaria in Germany was a shallow tropical archipelago with sponge reefs during the Late Jurassic Period. The water was so salty, like a bag of chips, and had no oxygen, so no scavengers messed with the dead animals inside the lagoons. 🌊🏝️

Now, 150 million years later, the scientists are all happy because they are pulling out complete fossils of fishes, marine reptiles, pterosaurs, and feathered dinosaurs like Archaeopteryx from the Solnhofen Limestone. Talk about an ancient treasure chest! 💎🦖

And now, there is the latest find, a beautiful but pancaked turtle, named Solnhofia. This creature tells us how turtles first took to the ocean waves, surfing all the way. 🐢🌊

This specimen, the entire nine-inch animal, was found by a private collector from a quarry near the German city of Painten. “It’s the most complete and best preserved one so far,” said Márton Rabi, a paleontologist at the University of Tübingen in Germany. No kidding, brother! 👨‍🔬🔍

But this kind of preservation has some good and some bad. Anatomists like the kind of skeletons where you can flip the bones around, study them really well. But this one, you can’t do that, and it’s hard to scan them too because they’re flat and large. But still cool, right? 🦴💻

Solnhofen preserved other first sea turtles too, that evolved from land animals before going to freshwater and then to the shallow ocean in Jurassic Bavaria. “In this southern German region, the sea turtles are very diverse,” Dr. Rabi said. There are more species than there are today, and many of them haven’t even been described yet! 🐢🌴

And they were different from modern turtles too. Solnhofia’s lineage lacked the stiff paddles like today’s open-water turtles, and may have also lacked specialized salt-removal glands. “Modern sea turtles travel all over the place, make insanely long trips. These Jurassic sea turtles were not capable of that,” Dr. Rabi said. But still, they had the Aloha spirit! 🌺🌍

These coastal, clawed marine turtles were incredibly successful throughout the remainder of the Mesozoic Era, evolving numerous times. While Solnhofia went extinct at the end of the Jurassic as sea levels fell, the family lingered, evolving bizarre representatives with cue-ball shaped heads in the Eocene Epoch before finally disappearing. 🦕🎱

With them went early models of the flippered, near-shore marine turtle, Dr. Rabi said. The closest modern analogue is the Diamondback terrapin. Yet turtles that can thrive in such an environment may not have disappeared forever, Dr. Rabi said. Bottom-feeding coastal turtles appear to have evolved as a partial response to higher sea levels and the resulting boom in shallow, continental marine ecosystems — a setting that could make a return appearance. 🌎❄️

“So, this old pancaked turtle, Solnhofia, tells us a long story, 150-million-year-old one, about life, evolution, and the ocean. A true Hawaiian tale, that keeps on giving, from the ancient world to the modern times, and maybe even the future. Hello, Solnhofia, and thank you for the story!” 🐢🌅🤙