Turtles may look like the hard-shelled relatives of lizards and snakes, but their DNA suggests they have far more in common with birds. This is according to US scientists who used a new genetic sequencing technique called Ultra Conserved Elements (UCE) to finally settle the debate on turtle evolution. The results, they say, reveal that turtles belong to a large group called 'Archelosauria,' along with their relatives birds, crocodiles and dinosaurs. Turtles may look like the hard-shelled relatives of lizards and snakes, but their DNA suggests they have far more in common with birds Scientists at the California Academy of Sciences suspect the new group will be the largest group of vertebrates to ever receive a new scientific name.
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Scientists used a new genetic sequencing technique to map relatives
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The results, they say, reveal that turtles belong to a large group called 'Archelosauria,' along with their relatives birds, crocodiles and dinosaurs
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This is consistent with when turtle species appear in the fossil record
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Study also resolves evolutionary mystery surrounding softshell turtles
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Until now, studies had linked softshell turtles with aquatic mud turtles
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New study places softshells within their own on the evolutionary tree
Although @placeholder has been available for two years, this is the first time the scientists have used the tool to genetically map vertebrates and how they are related.