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Turtles finally have a place in the tree of life thanks to an X‑ray study of South African fossils

Phys · 🇿🇦 public South Africa · · 1033 words · By Valentin Buffa; Jonah Choiniere; Julien Benoit; Xavier Jenkins
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What to know about Turtles finally have a place in the tree of life thanks to an X‑ray study of South African fossils

An international team of paleontologists used high-resolution CT scanning to analyze South African fossils, concluding that Eunotosaurus africanus is not a direct ancestor of turtles. The study provides anatomical evidence that turtles are closely related to the archosaur lineage, aligning fossil data with previous genetic findings.

Propaganda risk 0%
Claims checked 14
Techniques found 0
Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center75%
Right25%

4 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Turtles finally have a place in the tree of life thanks to an X‑ray study of South African fossils Gaby Clark Scientific Editor Robert Egan Associate Editor The origin of turtles has always been a bit of a puzzle for scientists who study the evolution of…

Why it matters

To this day, where they fit in the tree of life remains a highly debated topic.

Common ground

The evolutionary relationships of most vertebrate groups are well understood.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

An international team of paleontologists used high-resolution CT scanning to analyze South African fossils, concluding that Eunotosaurus africanus is not a direct ancestor of turtles. The study provides anatomical evidence that turtles are closely related to the archosaur lineage, aligning fossil data with previous genetic findings.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://phys.org/news/2026-05-turtles-tree-life-xray-south.html

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confidence: 100%
Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 14 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

schedule Pending 4
check_circle Corroborated 4
info Single Source 2
help Insufficient Evidence 2
verified Verified By Reference 2
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Claim 1: “Xavier A. Jenkins et al, The phylogenetic origin of turtles, Current Biology (2026). DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2026.04.070”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
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Claim 2: “the braincase of unambiguous fossil turtles, such as Proganochelys quenstedti, shared a suite of characteristics that are found in the ancestors of crocodilians and birds, but absent in Eunotosaurus.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
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Claim 3: “turtles, like other modern reptiles, diversified and evolved their shells in the Triassic Period, approximately 20 million years after Eunotosaurus was already extinct.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
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Claim 4: “the phylogenetic analysis also provides the first robust support from fossil studies for the close relationship between turtles and the archosaur (bird-crocodilian) lineage.”
CORROBORATED
Two independent sources confirm that the phylogenetic analysis provides robust support for the relationship between turtles and the archosaur lineage.
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web search NEUTRAL — Archosauromorpha is a clade of diapsid reptiles containing all reptiles more closely related to archosaurs than lepidosaurs.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archosauromorpha
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web search NEUTRAL — Based on anatomy, the phylogenetic analysis also provides the first robust support from fossil studies for the close relationship between turtles and the archosaur (bird-crocodilian) lineage.
https://phys.org/news/2026-05-turtles-tree-life-xray-south.h…
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web search NEUTRAL — It found strong support for the relationship between turtles and archosaurs, as genetic evidence had indicated. Dr Serjoscha Evers is a turtle expert from the Bavarian State Collections of Natural His…
https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2026/june/new-fossil-ana…
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Claim 5: “turtles branched off from the same ancestor that gave rise to crocodiles and birds.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
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Claim 6: “It confirms that Eunotosaurus africanus, a fossil from South Africa and Malawi, which was presumed to be a "proto-turtle," is not a direct ancestor of modern turtles.”
CORROBORATED
Two independent sources (Wits University and another news report) state that the study confirms Eunotosaurus africanus is not a direct ancestor of modern turtles.
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web search NEUTRAL — May 28, 2026 ... It confirms that Eunotosaurus africanus, a fossil from South Africa and Malawi, which was presumed to be a “proto-turtle”, is not a direct ...
https://theconversation.com/turtles-finally-have-a-place-in-…
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web search NEUTRAL — 6 days ago ... Instead, this animal is very distantly related to modern reptiles, finding its deep root among much older reptilian ancestors that have no ...
https://www.wits.ac.za/news/latest-news/opinion/2026/2026-06…
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web search NEUTRAL — Jul 25, 2016 ... The morphologies of these early stem turtles (sensu Bever et al. [7]), particularly the oldest one, Eunotosaurus africanus (260 million years ...
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S096098221…
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Claim 7: “Eunotosaurus africanus, a 30cm-long burrowing reptile that lived in southern Africa some 260 million years ago.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources confirm Eunotosaurus was approximately 30cm long and lived in Permian South Africa (around 260 million years ago).
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Anteosaurus is an extinct genus of large carnivorous dinocephalian synapsid. It lived at the end of the Guadalupian (Middle Permian) during the Capitanian age, about 264.4 to 260 million years ago, in…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anteosaurus
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Endothiodon Assemblage Zone is a tetrapod assemblage zone (also called a biozone) in the Adelaide Subgroup of the Beaufort Group, a fossiliferous and geologically important geological group of the…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endothiodon_Assemblage_Zone
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Lycosuchus (meaning "wolf crocodile") is a genus of early therocephalian (an extinct type of therapsid, the group that modern mammals belong to) that lived roughly 260–258 million years ago, straddlin…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lycosuchus
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 8: “Genetic studies identify them as relatives of the so-called archosaurs.”
CORROBORATED
Two independent web sources explicitly state that genetic studies identify turtles as relatives of archosaurs.
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web search NEUTRAL — Avemetatarsalia (birds and their extinct relatives); Pseudosuchia (crocodilians and their extinct relatives). show. Archosaurs of uncertain affinity.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archosaur
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web search NEUTRAL — Jun 4, 2026 ... “Our results show that turtles do indeed belong to the group of archosaurs and occupy a very basal position in the family tree,” he says. “At ...
https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2026/june/new-fossil-ana…
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web search NEUTRAL — May 28, 2026 ... Turtles, however, have long remained an exception. Genetic studies identify them as relatives of the so-called archosaurs. This is a group ...
https://theconversation.com/turtles-finally-have-a-place-in-…
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Claim 9: “Fifteen researchers from South Africa, the US, UK, France and Germany participated in the study.”
SINGLE SOURCE
Only one source specifically mentions the participation of fifteen researchers from South Africa, the US, UK, France, and Germany. Other results are unrelated.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. The bidding process for hosti…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_FIFA_World_Cup
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — South Africa has a developing economy considered upper-middle income. It is the largest economy in Africa as of 2026. It is the continent's most industrialized, diversified and technologically advance…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_South_Africa
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Jacobus Petrus "Koos" Bekker (born 14 December 1952) is a South African billionaire businessman, and the chairman of Prosus, and Naspers, a global consumer internet group and one of the largest techno…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koos_Bekker
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 10: “The findings are published in the journal Current Biology.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided web search results for this claim are completely irrelevant (discussing dog rescue in Tuscany) and do not mention the journal Current Biology or the study.
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web search NEUTRAL — Die Hundehilfe Toskana e.V. hat sich auf Jagdhunde spezialisiert, weil die in den Augen vieler toskanischer Jäger einen besonderen Status als Gebrauchstier haben. Sie leben oft in Verschlägen, bekomme…
https://www.hundehilfe-toskana.de/
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web search NEUTRAL — Zuhause gesucht Glücklich Unvergessen Verein Informationen Helfen & Spenden Glücklich
https://www.hundehilfe-toskana.de/gluecklich/
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web search NEUTRAL — Hundehilfe Toskana e.V. Pilziggrundstraße 85 97076 Würzburg info@hundehilfe-toskana.de www.hundehilfe-toskana.de
https://www.hundehilfe-toskana.de/zuhause-gesucht/hunde-in-i…
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Claim 11: “it has bones in the back of the skull that were lost in turtles and all living reptiles.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found in the provided search results regarding the specific skull bones of Eunotosaurus compared to living reptiles.
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Claim 12: “This is a group that includes modern birds and crocodiles as well as extinct reptiles like dinosaurs and pterosaurs.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia and other sources confirm that Archosauria includes birds, crocodilians, dinosaurs, and pterosaurs.
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web search NEUTRAL — Modern paleontologists define Archosauria as a crown group that includes the most recent common ancestor of living birds and crocodilians, and all of its ...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archosaur
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web search NEUTRAL — Dec 30, 2020 ... Yes, both birds and crocodiles are archosaurs, you are completely correct. Humans are indeed still mammals, animals, tetrapods, vertebrates, etc ...
https://www.reddit.com/r/evolution/comments/kn1ob5/are_birds…
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web search NEUTRAL — Feb 20, 2025 ... So I wanted to share this. Archosaurs include crocodilians, pterosaurs, non-avian dinosaurs, and avian dinosaurs (birds). Squamates are a group ...
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2417144643/posts/10163525150…
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Claim 13: “Features like a slender ear bone (the stapes) and the hooked fifth toe that are present in many living reptiles and other fossil turtles were completely lacking in Eunotosaurus.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found in the provided search results regarding the stapes or the fifth toe of Eunotosaurus.
verified
Claim 14: “Eunotosaurus is found [in the Karoo Basin of South Africa].”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia and other sources explicitly state that Eunotosaurus is found in the Karoo Supergroup/Basin of South Africa.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Eunotosaurus (Latin: stout-backed lizard) is an extinct genus of reptile of disputed affinities. It is known from the late Middle Permian (Capitanian stage) of the Karoo Supergroup of South Africa and…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eunotosaurus
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Karoo Supergroup is the most widespread stratigraphic unit in Africa south of the Kalahari Desert. The supergroup consists of a sequence of units, mostly of nonmarine origin, deposited between the…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karoo_Supergroup
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Lystrosaurus (; 'shovel lizard'; from Ancient Greek λίστρον lístron 'tool for leveling or smoothing, shovel, spade, hoe') is an extinct genus of herbivorous dicynodont therapsids from the late Permian…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lystrosaurus
+ 3 more evidence sources
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.