Unveiled by an international team of archaeologists and palaeontologists, this finding provides an intriguing glimpse into the ancient seas and the life of a previously unknown apex predator of the Late Cretaceous period.

In a surprising twist of paleontological detective work, two fossils categorised as ancient plants turned out to be the fossilised remnants of baby turtles. 

This revelation is set to redefine the legacy of specimens collected by Colombian priest Padre Gustavo Huertas.

Mistaken Identity: Plant or Turtle?

Initially classified as a fossil plant called Sphenophyllum colombianum, the two specimens were discovered by Huertas near a town called Villa de Levya, in Colombia, where he collected rocks and fossils in the 1950s to 1970s.

With an estimated weight of 412.3 pounds (187 kilograms) and a length of 8.2 feet (2.5 meters), this newly documented species is roughly the size of a modern-day bottlenose dolphin.

Named Tutcetus rayanensis, this creature belonged to the extinct basilosauridae family, which was one of the earliest groups to become fully aquatic. As revealed in a study published in Communications Biology on Thursday, this diminutive specimen is considerably older than other basilosaurids from the Eocene Epoch.

In 2019, paleontologist Karma Nanglu from Harvard University received a finger-sized fossil. The specimen had originated from a fossil-rich stratum of Cambrian limestone in western Utah, and had been kept in a drawer at a Salt Lake City museum for years.

Upon hearing that there could be a very old tunicate, Nanglu expressed excitement interlaced with caution: "That's a group for which there is essentially no fossil record for the entire 500 million years of recorded history."

Today, researchers are using the fossils of the Olympicetus thalassodon an early toothed whale which existed around 26.5 and 30.5 million years ago, to better understand the early history and diversification of modern dolphins, porpoises and other toothed whales. 

In the Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park in the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest in Nevada, there is a fossil bed in which many ichthyosaurs (Shonisaurus popularis) have been found petrified in stone.

Over the years, there has been speculation that they had perished in a mass stranding incident or due to a nearby algal bloom. While these were possible, there had not been strong evidence to support these theories.

Found in Montana’s Bear Gulch limestone formation, the unassuming 12cm (4.72inch) fossil was subsequently donated to the Royal Ontario Museum in 1988. And there it lay quietly in a drawer in the Invertebrate Palaeontology collection for decades while scientists fussed over fossil sharks and other creatures from the site.

Until, one day, palaeontologists noticed the fossil’s 10 limbs and took a closer look.

Scientists recently announced their findings in the Communications Biology journal, stating that the creatures' large body size helped to overcome the excess drag that was created as a result. 

They discovered that while the plesiosaurs’ large necks did indeed increase the drag, this was relatively minor and was subsequently compensated for by the evolution of their large bodies.

Geologists at Lund University have created a life-size reconstruction of an ichthyosaur, a dolphin-like reptile that existed in the Early Triassic to Late Cretaceous era.

The team made use of existing fish-lizard research that spanned 300 years, as well as fossils that comprised not only bones and teeth, but also soft tissues like skin, muscles, fat and pigment.

A well-preserved fossil dating back 480 million years is being used by researchers at the University of Cambridge to decipher the origins of the modern-day starfish.

Named Cantabrigiaster fezouataensis, the fossil was discovered in Morroco's Anti-Atlas mountain range. Frozen in time for 480 million years, the fossil yields features that are similar to both sea lilies and modern-day starfish.