Turtle (2 of 2) (IMAGE)

California Academy of Sciences

Turtle (2 of 2)

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The new study uses an enormous amount of data to refute the notion that turtles are most closely related to lizards and snakes. Instead, authors place turtles in the newly named group "Archelosauria" with their closest relatives: birds, crocodiles, and dinosaurs. Scientists suspect the new group will be the largest group of vertebrates to ever receive a new scientific name.

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The California Academy of Sciences

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