Deep in the rock of Transylvania, a turtle that no one had named before has come back into view, carrying with it a quiet argument about survival. Dortoka vremiri lived some 70 million years ago, in a world of small dinosaurs and vast pterosaurs on an island in an ancient sea, and its nearest known relative appears in the record 57 million years later, which means its lineage must have crossed the catastrophe that ended the age of dinosaurs. Researchers writing in the Journal of Systematic Paleontology suggest that this crossing was gentler in the east than in the west, and that a semi-aquatic
Ancient Transylvanian Turtle Survived the Asteroid That Ended the Dinosaurs
Not every place on Earth will face the same consequences
Mark
A seven-inch turtle is making headlines. Why?
Mimi
Because it's new to science, and because of where it sits in time. It lived about 70 million years ago, and its closest relative is 57 million years old. That implies its lineage got through the extinction in between.
Mark
So it's a survivor story.
Mimi
In a sense. Augustin says it fits a pattern: certain mammal groups died out in western Europe but survived in eastern Europe, and turtles may have done the same.
Luke
Careful with the word survived, though. The turtle itself lived 70 million years ago, before the asteroid. What's inferred is that its relatives made it through, based on a species 57 million years old.
Mark
So the survival is an inference from the family tree.
Luke
Yes. Reasonable, but it's not a fossil caught in the act.
Mark
What about the semi-aquatic angle?
Mimi
Augustin said it likely helped, and that North American sites suggest freshwater habitats gave some protection.
Luke
Note the hedges: likely, appear. That's a probable explanation, not a demonstrated one. And the Eastern Europe contrast comes from one study's reading.
Mark
And the link to today's extinction crisis?
Mimi
That's Augustin's framing. Place and ecological traits shape who endures.
Luke
Fair as a lesson, but the paper doesn't predict which modern species will fare well. That part is still open.
Le Pouls
- A seven-inch turtle, unknown until now, surfaces from Romanian fossil beds alongside dinosaurs and pterosaurs.
- Its lineage had to endure the asteroid that wiped out roughly three quarters of all species 66 million years ago.
- Eastern Europe appears to have been spared the harshest blows that struck the western side of the continent.
- Semi-aquatic habitats may have shielded animals from soot, dust, and collapsing plant life, and the researchers see the same pattern in other sites.
- Scientists now watch whether other Hateg Basin fossils confirm refuges, a lesson they say bears on today's extinction crisis.
Deep in the rock of Transylvania, a turtle that no one had named before has come back into view, carrying with it a quiet argument about survival. Dortoka vremiri lived some 70 million years ago, in a world of small dinosaurs and vast pterosaurs on an island in an ancient sea, and its nearest known relative appears in the record 57 million years later, which means its lineage must have crossed the catastrophe that ended the age of dinosaurs. Researchers writing in the Journal of Systematic Paleontology suggest that this crossing was gentler in the east than in the west, and that a semi-aquatic life may have offered a refuge. In tracing how life once passed through catastrophe, the find also speaks to a present moment in which another mass extinction is underway.
Fossils dug from the ground in Transylvania, in western Romania, belong to a turtle no one had described before. Researchers have named it Dortoka vremiri. It was about seven inches long and lived roughly 70 million years ago, and its closest known relative comes from 57 million years ago. That gap means its family line had to pass through the Cretaceous–Paleogene mass extinction, 66 million years ago.
That catastrophe began when an asteroid about six miles wide struck what is now Mexico. It carved a crater 90 miles across, hurled debris into the sky, and sent tidal waves around the globe. Soot and dust blocked much of the sun, plants died, ecosystems collapsed, and roughly 75 percent of species were lost, including every non-avian dinosaur.
The team, led by Felix Augustin of Eberhard Karls University in Germany, published its findings in the Journal of Systematic Paleontology. Augustin believes the study points to a gentler extinction in Eastern Europe than in Western Europe, where certain mammal groups vanished while their eastern relatives survived. The turtle's semi-aquatic lifestyle probably helped it, and similar North American sites suggest freshwater habitats may have shielded animals from the worst of the strike.
The world the turtle knew was very different from today's western Romania. Then it was Hateg Island, in the middle of the ancient Tethys Sea, home to small dinosaurs and gigantic flying pterosaurs. Augustin sees in the find a warning as well as a record: humans are now driving a mass extinction of their own, and the past offers clues about how such events unfold. What comes next is whether other groups in the Hateg Basin and across Eastern Europe show the same survival, and whether freshwater refuges keep turning up in the fossil record.
Fossils pulled from the ground in Transylvania, in western Romania, have turned out to belong to a turtle no one had described before. Researchers have named it Dortoka vremiri. It was about seven inches long, it lived roughly 70 million years ago, and its closest known relative is a species from 57 million years ago. That gap in time is the heart of the finding: the family line must have passed through the Cretaceous–Paleogene mass extinction, 66 million years ago.
That extinction was set off by an asteroid about six miles wide, which struck the area of modern-day Mexico. The impact left a crater 90 miles across, threw enormous quantities of debris into the air and sent tidal waves around the globe. Soot and dust rose high enough to partly block the sun, and many plants died as a result. Ecosystems collapsed. Around 75 percent of all species on Earth were lost, including every non-avian dinosaur.
The team published its findings in the Journal of Systematic Paleontology. Lead author Felix Augustin, of the Department of Geosciences at Eberhard Karls University in Germany, told Newsweek that the study points to a gentler extinction in Eastern Europe than in Western Europe. Certain mammal groups vanished in the west while surviving in the east, he said, and the turtle suggests the same pattern held for turtles.
The animal's way of life probably mattered too. Dortoka vremiri was semi-aquatic, which Augustin said likely helped it survive. He added that sites in North America have shown freshwater habitats seem to have shielded animals from the worst effects of the strike.
The landscape where the turtle lived bore little resemblance to western Romania today. In the Cretaceous, the region was Hateg Island, set in the middle of the ancient Tethys Sea. The Hateg Basin has been productive ground for paleontologists, yielding many smaller ancient creatures, including "dwarf" dinosaurs. Augustin said the turtle shared its world with small dinosaurs and gigantic flying pterosaurs.
Augustin also tied the find to the present. "We are currently facing a mass extinction—caused by our own species—and some of the best clues of how such extinction events take place come from the past," he said. In his view, the paper shows that not every place on Earth will face the same consequences, and that some animal groups have better odds of coming through because of their specific ecological adaptations.
What to watch is how far the pattern extends: whether other groups in the Hateg Basin and elsewhere in Eastern Europe show the same survival, and whether freshwater refuges keep appearing in the fossil record.
Citations marquantes
Our study indicates that the effects of the mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous were not as severe in Eastern Europe as they were in Western Europe.— Felix Augustin, Eberhard Karls University
We are currently facing a mass extinction—caused by our own species—and some of the best clues of how such extinction events take place come from the past.— Felix Augustin, Eberhard Karls University
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