Specimen P 161476 Research Focus, Bayside Fossils - Pig-nosed Turtle Shell, Carettochelyidae

Summary

This fossilised shell fragment was collected at Beaumaris in the early 1900s, and belonged to a species of Pig-nosed Turtle (Carettochelyidae) that lived near Melbourne 5 million years ago.

During the Pliocene, southern Australia had a warmer climate suitable for these turtles and other species like monk seals, dugongs, and tiger sharks. This was changed by rapid cooling and drying of the continent three million years ago, and today the only remaining pig-nosed turtle is found in more tropical regions in the Northern Territory and Papua New Guinea. This specimen is the only fossil of these turtles found in Australia.