Where did turtles come from?

The origin of turtles has long been a scientific mystery. Not only do they have super weird things going on with their ribs, head, and teeth, but also its unclear if they were more closely related to birds and crocodiles, or snakes and lizards, or something else. This week we take a deep dive into the origin of turtles, terrapins and tortoises, and the process of "turtleization". New data from the important Permian critter Eunotosaurus of South Africa might have now solved that problem of the question: Where did turtles come from?

This weeks's paper is "The phylogenetic origin of turtles" by Xavier Jenkins and colleagues published in Current Biology in June 2026 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2026.04.070

Wide screen art by Gabriel Ugeuto.