All articles tagged with #sea turtle
Scientists discovered a 50-million-year-old fossil sea turtle, Syriemys lelunensis, in Syria, marking the first vertebrate fossil described from the country and providing new insights into the evolution and distribution of ancient sea turtles, despite the complex political situation.
During a whale watching tour near Sri Lanka, a sea turtle trapped in a fishing net was rescued by a group of tourists and guides, highlighting the issue of marine debris and the importance of conservation efforts.
A diver named Mike Papish rescued Lenny, a large injured loggerhead sea turtle, and took him to The Turtle Hospital in Florida, where he received care and was released after two weeks, highlighting the importance of sea turtle conservation and ecosystem health.
At least 9 people, including 8 children, have died and 78 others hospitalized after consuming sea turtle meat on Pemba Island in the Zanzibar archipelago, leading to a rare and potentially deadly type of food poisoning called chelonitoxism. The area's disaster management team has warned people against eating sea turtles, which are considered a delicacy in Zanzibar, and this is not the first incident of fatalities linked to consuming turtle meat on the island.
Eight children and one adult died, and 78 others were hospitalized after consuming sea turtle meat on Pemba Island in Zanzibar, Tanzania. This incident is not the first of its kind, as sea turtle meat is considered a delicacy in the region despite periodic deaths from chelonitoxism, a type of food poisoning. Authorities have urged people to avoid consuming sea turtles, and it is worth noting that most sea turtle species are endangered due to human predation and environmental factors.
A 12-year-old girl with spina bifida, Kendall Barfield, virtually adopted a sea turtle named Bandit who shares a similar condition, and finally got to meet her in person at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center. Bandit, a juvenile green sea turtle, was injured in a boat accident, leaving her partially paralyzed, but she is thriving with the center's care. Kendall's mother, Danielle, praised the center's work and runs an online group for people affected by spina bifida. Kendall aspires to work with animals in the future and hopes to be seen for who she is on the inside, not just her condition.
Remnants of DNA have been discovered in a 6 million-year-old fossil of a sea turtle closely related to today's Kemp's ridley and olive ridley turtles, marking a rare find of genetic material in ancient vertebrate fossils. The fossil, excavated in Panama, contained well-preserved bone cells called osteocytes, some of which still had preserved cell nuclei containing traces of DNA. This discovery provides insights into the evolutionary history of the Lepidochelys genus and opens up possibilities for future studies on ancient DNA sequencing.
A remarkably preserved fossil of a Jurassic sea turtle, Solnhofia parsonsi, has been described by scientists. The fossil includes a near-complete skull and limbs, providing insights into the shape and structure of the turtle's extremities. The shorter limbs suggest that S. parsonsi swam in coastal waters rather than the open ocean. The fossil was excavated from a limestone quarry in Germany, which has yielded many examples of marine animals and plants from the Late Jurassic period. Scientists hope to reconstruct the ecosystem and understand the diversity of species that coexisted millions of years ago.