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Ancient Turtles Died Copulating

Nine fossilized turtle couples preserved over the millennia died in the act of mating.

By Jennifer Viegas
Jun 19, 2012

A 47-million-year-old fossil of nine turtle couples in the act of mating has been found.

The turtles, described in the latest Biology Letters, apparently died in the throes of passion. While deeply engaged in copulation, they drifted into poisonous water and perished, forever preserved in their lovemaking moment.

“Many animals enter a trance-like state when mating or laying eggs and it is possible that these turtles simply did not notice that they were entering poisonous waters before it was too late,” lead author Walter Joyce, a researcher at the University of Tübingen, told Discovery News.

Joyce and his colleagues analyzed the fossils, found in the Messel Pit Fossil Site between Darmstadt and Frankfurt, Germany. Numerous fossilized birds, bats, fish, frogs, snakes, insects and more were also found at the site, suggesting that at least some of them too were poisoned by what was, back in the Eocene, a volcanic lake.

The turtle couples did not all die together, but instead were found at random throughout the site of the former lake. The scientists can tell that each couple consisted of one male and one female due to tail shape and length differences, body size differences and other anatomical features.

Full story and photo: http://news.discovery.com/animals/turtl ... gn=rssnws1