Sometimes animated turtles seem to live inside their shells like it’s a tiny home. They may even hop out of the shell and run ...

This seems to be in keeping with previous theories of turtle evolution: First, a shell-less ancestor donned only front-facing armor, creating an open-faced reptilian sandwich.

Of the modern turtle’s many distinct features, nothing stands out more than its iconic shell. But paleontologists have discovered a 228 million-year-old fossilized turtle that is not only ...