Name: Watch Scientists Extract a Rare Turtle Fossil
Uploaded: undefined
Duration: undefined

Nova

With teamwork, careful handling, and a little help from liquid nitrogen, scientists unearth a remarkable baenid turtle fossil.

The Late Cretaceous period was kind of the heyday of turtles.

Watch Scientists Extract a Rare Turtle Fossil

Koch Foundation

NOVA Science Trust Logo

With teamwork, careful handling, and a little help from liquid nitrogen, scientists unearth a remarkable baenid turtle fossil.

The Late Cretaceous period was kind of the heyday of turtles.

Evolution

Watch Scientists Extract a Rare Turtle FossilPublished: May 27, 2022David Attenborough: In 2019, Robert finds something truly remarkable.Robert DePalma: See the cracks already forming?David Attenborough: Yeah.Robert DePalma: Look at that. So we're gonna have to really monitor that before we glue it cause this is getting vulnerable now.David Attenborough: An almost complete creature. After 66 million years, finding anything intact is extremely rare.Robert DePalma: Make a thon, get the consolidate, and to get this block out, we're freezing it.David Attenborough: To keep the fossil in one piece as they remove it from the crumbly layer, the team decides to use a potentially tricky technique. They've covered the fossil in plaster to protect it.Robert DePalma: Ready?David Attenborough: Freeing it means they have to flash freeze the crumbly rock surrounding it Using liquid Nitrogen at around minus 300 degrees Fahrenheit.Robert DePalma: Watch your footing. Loren, I'm worried about brittleness here. Get that hammer.Give this a couple whacks with the hammer. Okay. Move over five centimeters. Good. It's cracked loose. Yep.Loren Gurche: Okay, it's loose.Robert DePalma: So we have to get this out in one piece. One, two, three.Loren Gurche: Yee-haw.Robert DePalma: Total success.Loren Gurche: Total success.Robert DePalma: This is a technique used in archeology for digging up human remains. We've got enough time to work with the fossil and not damage it. And I couldn't be happier.David Attenborough: And the creature Robert and his team have found? A turtle. This is the fossil, now it's been cleaned up. It's lying on its side. Here's the outline of its shell. The shape of the shell and the sculpt edges here, tell us that this was a Baenid turtle. This Baenid turtle would have looked very similar to modern Cooter turtles, and lived in the same sort of fresh water environments.Emily Bamforth: The late Cretaceous period is kind of the hay day of turtles in at least northern North America. There were at least 16 species that were known from Saskatchewan, and compare that today, we only have three. So back then it was a much better time to be a turtle.

United States

Northern Mariana Islands

Puerto Rico

American Samoa

Guam

U.S. Virgin Islands

U.S. Minor Outlying Islands

US & Territories

NOVA investigates the story of cannabis from the criminalization that has disproportionately harmed communities of color to the latest medical understanding of the plant. What risks does cannabis pose to the developing brain? How much do we know about its potential medical benefits? As cannabis becomes socially accepted, scientists are exploring its long-term health consequences. (Premiered September 29, 2021)Check out a previously recorded panel discussion and audience Q&amp;A featuring experts and producers from "The Cannabis Question" <a href="https://youtu.be/nSTT5RZ_hxA">here</a>.

As state-legalized cannabis spreads, NOVA explores its little-known risks and benefits.

The Cannabis Question

A 2006 composite image from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and Spitzer Telescope shows the chaos of baby stars in the Orion nebula some 1,500 light-years away. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/STScI

With the upcoming launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, the Hubble era is gradually drawing to a close. Here are some highlights from the countless wonders Hubble has shown us during its 31 years in space.

10 spectacular Hubble Space Telescope images

A statue of Zheng He at the Sam Poo Kong Temple in Java, Indonesia. Image Credit: Budianto Santosa, Shutterstock

In the 1400s, Zheng He sailed thousands of miles around Asia and Africa in ships the size of soccer fields, spreading Chinese innovations like compasses and gunpowder in the process.

Watch Scientists Extract a Rare Turtle Fossil

Support Provided By

Explore More

Dinosaur Apocalypse: The New Evidence

Amazon Turtles Recovering, Thanks to Local Volunteers

Fifty Million Years Ago, the Arctic Was a Warm Swamp

Transcript

Credits

Support Provided By

Explore More

Dinosaur Apocalypse: The New Evidence

Amazon Turtles Recovering, Thanks to Local Volunteers

Fifty Million Years Ago, the Arctic Was a Warm Swamp