Fossil turtle print from 227 million years ago. Domeño, Valencia. Paleontology Collection of M[UV]HN.
Photo: Miguel Lorenzo
This copy is part of a study covering some 46 remains. The traces found have appeared in a shallow sandstone, deposited between plasters versicoloured (ancient salt environments) of the Keuper facies, so abundant in Valencia. This fossil is one of the oldest known finds of turtle tracks. The deposit is also the most abundant worldwide in terms of records of this group in Triassic materials. This period is characterized by being very arid on a general level, although it had a very rainy weather episode, known as the Carniense Wet Event, which is recorded throughout Europe and which favoured the abundance of river deposits and biological communities related to these habitats.
