Ancient turtle fossils discovered in Egypt - in pictures
A team of Egyptian palaeontologists discovered 70 million years old turtle fossils in desert province of New Valley. All photos: New Valley Vertebrate Palaeontology Centre
The 50 turtle fossils date back to the upper Cretaceous period
Egyptian palaeontologists with the turtle fossils
They also discovered remains of herbivorous dinosaurs and crocodiles which lived in the area more than 70 million years ago
The species was named Khargachelys cairoensis, after the cities of Kharga, the largest in New Valley province, and Cairo
The discovered turtle fossil
Palaeontologists working at the site
New Valley is the country’s largest province by land mass at 440,000 square kilometres
New Valley is made up of land formations dating back to the Cretaceous period that have remained the same for millions of years because of the area’s dry climate
Palaeontologists roam for days at a time in search of prehistoric remains
Palaeontologists excavate fossils
Palaeontologists excavate fossils
The palaeontologists from the universities of Cairo and New Valley hope to exhibit fossils in open-air museum in Western Desert
Turtles were fossilised whole, a quality common among marine animal fossils
