Description

Trionyx Turtle Shell Section

Species: Trionyx sp.

Age: Cretaceous Period, 68 million years old

Location: Montana, USA

Formation: Judith River

Trionyx is a genus of several different soft-shelled turtles throughout prehistory and even into the modern day. While most members of this group are extinct and known solely through the fossil record, the African “Nile” Softshell turtle remains as the last surviving species of this long and storied lineage.

Unlike hard-shell turtles, which have a hard exterior shell layer, softshell turtles have a more leathery and flexible membrane that stretches over a hard interior skeletal structure. That interior structure is what has fossilized here. This particular piece is from the carapace, or top section of the shell.

It’s believed that these turtles were freshwater creatures, living in rivers and lakes alongside the giants of their day, including Triceratops and T. rex, while foraging for water plants along the water’s floor,

This is a beautiful piece with the telltale ripple pattern that makes softshell fossils easy to identify and fun to look at.

The offer includes a custom display stand and a Certificate of Authenticity.