Science in Montana ----> Rare Prehistoric Pregnant Turtle Found in Utah

[Ptah]

This undated image provided Montana State University
shows CT technician, Tanya Spence preparing to run a
75 million-year-old turtle fossil through a CT scanner
at Deaconess Hospital in Bozeman, Mont. Paleontologists
say a prehistoric turtle uncovered in a remote area of
southern Utah is just the second ever found to still
have a clutch of eggs inside. The fossil was found at
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in 2006 but
scientists only recently discovered it had eggs inside.
Scientists this week are examining CT scan images of the
turtle taken in Montana.
(AP Photo/Montana State University, Kelly Gorham) Collapse



http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=7547870


Paleontologists say a 75-million-year-old turtle fossil
uncovered in southern Utah has a clutch of eggs inside,
making it the first prehistoric pregnant
turtle found in the United States.

At least three eggs are visible from the outside of the fossil,
and Montana State University researchers this week have been
studying images taken from a CT scan in search of others inside.

Montana State graduate student Michael Knell says the turtle was
probably about a week from laying her eggs when she died and became
entombed for millions of years in sandstone.

The fossil was found in 2006 in a remote part of Grand Staircase-Escalante
National Monument. The eggs weren't discovered until after it sat
in storage for two years and was being re-examined by a volunteer.