How the Turtle Got Its Shell

About this film

Turtles, a unique group of reptiles, have a distinct evolutionary history that challenges previous understandings of reptile development. Research into the origins of turtles reveals that their shells evolved from the ribs of ancient species, particularly the Eunotosaurus, a prehistoric reptile from the late Permian period. Contributions from paleontologists such as Tyler Lyson, Luke Norton, Andrey Atuchin, and Gabriel Bever provide critical insights into this evolutionary transition. The findings prompt a reevaluation of the broader narrative of reptile evolution.

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) is an American media franchise created by comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael and Michelangelo, four anthropomorphic turtle brothers trained in ninjutsu who fight evil in New York City. The franchise encompasses printed media, television series, feature films, video games, and merchandise.

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Evolution

Evolution is the change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as genetic drift and natural selection act on genetic variation, resulting in certain characteristics becoming more or less common within a population over successive generations. The process of evolution has given rise to biodiversity at every level of biological organisation.

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Dinosaur

Dinosaurs are a diverse group of warmblooded reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They existed through most of the Mesozoic era, first appearing early in the Triassic period. They became the dominant terrestrial vertebrates after the Triassic–Jurassic extinction event 201.3 mya and their dominance continued throughout the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. The fossil record shows that birds are feathered dinosaurs, having evolved from earlier theropods during the Late Jurassic epoch, and are the only dinosaur lineage known to have survived the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event approximately 66 mya. Dinosaurs can therefore be divided into avian dinosaurs—birds—and the extinct non-avian dinosaurs, which are all dinosaurs other than birds.

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Dinos

In the typology of ancient Greek pottery, the dinos is a mixing bowl or cauldron. Dinos means 'drinking cup', but in modern typology is used for the same shape as a lebes, that is, a bowl with a spherical body, often accompanied by a wheel-turned stand. It has no handles and no feet. Literary references to such vessels are known from the Iliad, and examples have been found from between the seventh and fifth centuries BCE. Ancient artists who painted dinoi include the Dinos Painter, the Gorgon Painter, the Berlin Painter, Exekias and Sophilos.

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Paleontology

Paleontology or palaeontology is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure geologic time, and assess the interactions between prehistoric organisms and their natural environment. While paleontological observations are known from at least the 6th century BC, the foundation of paleontology as a science dates back to the work of Georges Cuvier in 1796. Cuvier demonstrated evidence for the concept of extinction and how the life of the past was not necessarily the same as that of the present. The field developed rapidly over the course of the following decades, and the French word paléontologie was introduced for the study in 1822, which was derived from the Ancient Greek word for 'ancient' and words describing relatedness and a field of study. Further advances in the field accompanied the work of Charles Darwin who popularized the concept of evolution. Together, evolution and extinction can be understood as complementary processes that shaped the history of life.

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Reptiles | Race of Life | Episode 8

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