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Researchers discover unprecedented fossil of marine turtle in Syria
Collected in Aleppo, Syriemys lelunensis is the first newly described extinct vertebrate species from the country and represents the oldest record of its lineage in the world
Syriemys lelunensis: the genus name combines the Greek words Συρία (Suría) and ἐμύς (emús), Latinized as “Syria” and “emys,” respectively, meaning “Syria” and “turtle” – Photo: Wafa Adel Alhalabi
After a controlled explosion carried out in 2010 to break large limestone blocks for processing, quarry owner Muhammad Al-Ibrahim found two pieces of a fossilized animal. The material was transferred to the office of the General Establishment of Geology and Mineral Resources (GEGMR) in Aleppo, Syria, where it remained for 13 years. It was only in 2023 that the fossil was cataloged, and its description has now been published by a group of scientists from Brazil, Syria, Germany, and Canada.
The fossilized remains correspond to a marine turtle that lived approximately 50 million years ago. Named Syriemys lelunensis, it is the first fossil vertebrate ever described for Syria. The discovery also represents the oldest record of Stereogenyini — an extinct lineage of side-necked turtles, characterized by lateral neck retraction — pushing its origin back by more than 10 million years.
“It’s a complicated situation in Syria, and in the face of tragedy, talking about fossils almost feels surreal. But at the same time, it shows the country’s potential and that science is alive. These are materials that can be recovered if properly studied,” emphasizes Max Langer, one of the article’s authors and coordinator of the Paleontology Laboratory (PaleoLab) at USP in Ribeirão Preto.
He explains that the article is part of a series of publications the group has been developing, based on material first seen and photographed by the lead author, Wafa Adel Alhalabi. A Syrian naturalized Brazilian, Wafa has been a researcher at PaleoLab since 2016, when she arrived in Brazil following the escalation of conflicts in her home country. The group is currently negotiating the transfer of some fossils to Brazil.
“When we published the first paper, about the plesiosaur, it drew a lot of attention in Syria. So, they invited me to study this fossil. It’s a very important place: in the same region, in Dederiyeh Cave, Neanderthal bones from Syria were found,” says the paleontologist, who graduated from the University of Damascus.
The collected material includes a fully preserved internal mold of the shell, as well as some plastral bones (from the ventral part of the shell), pelvic bones, and hind limb bones — some embedded in the mold. Tiny foraminifera were also extracted from the rock surrounding the turtle fossil. These small unicellular organisms belong to Rhizaria, a eukaryotic kingdom, and are protected by shells that resemble tiny mollusks.
In the researchers’ analysis, the collection of foraminifera was decisive in determining the age of the fossil: it indicated that it dates to the early Eocene, between 56 and 46 million years ago.
“Before this, we had some fragments that were called Stereogenyini, but we couldn’t be certain. Now we have a more refined temporal dimension thanks to the Syrian fossil,” says Gabriel Ferreira, co-author of the study. A specialist in turtle evolution, the paleontologist completed his undergraduate studies and part of his PhD at PaleoLab, and now works in the Department of Geosciences at the University of Tübingen, Germany.
A Unique Member of the Family
Ferreira explains that the oldest records of Stereogenyini dated to the late Eocene (38 to 33 million years ago) and were found in Egypt. Other turtle fossils from the Podocnemididae family, closely related to Stereogenyini, had also been reported in Oman and Saudi Arabia. Previous studies indicated a wide geographic and temporal distribution for these turtles, ranging from the Eocene of Africa to the Pleistocene of Southeast Asia.
“These animals belong to a group that today includes only semi-aquatic freshwater turtles. But in the past, some lineages evolved toward a marine or at least coastal life,” Ferreira explains. One of the groups that includes Stereogenyini is Pleurodira – turtles with lateral neck retraction. The other group is Cryptodira, which retract their necks straight into the shell. “The marine turtles we know today are all Cryptodira,” he adds.
Although living Pleurodira are exclusively freshwater, in the past some lineages ventured into saltwater – Stereogenyini among them. “And because of that, these animals are found all over the world: in South America, North America, the Caribbean, Africa, East Asia. But until now, we didn’t really know where they originated,” says Ferreira.
With this, Syriemys lelunensis adds a point to the geographic distribution of the Stereogenyini group, providing clues to its probable origin in the Mediterranean.
The oval shell of Syriemys lelunensis measures 53 cm in length along the midline and 44 cm in width. The plastron is 46 cm long and 38 cm wide. Its features reinforce the existence of a prehistoric Eocene in the present-day Middle East. Photo: Courtesy of researcher Wafa Adel Alhalabi.
In the article, the team highlights that the Syrian fossil differs from other Stereogenyini by three unique characteristics not found in its direct ancestors or related lineages: Syriemys lelunensis has seven long neural bones running along the midline of the shell and extending at least to one of the costal bones; the front edge of the nuchal bone is about half the width of the nuchal bone itself; and there is a shallow notch at the rear of the shell, where the tail would have been.
For Wafa, these distinctive traits form a mosaic of clues about the region’s paleobiogeography—fossil and geological evidence that underscores the country’s underwater past. “Syria was submerged throughout the entire Cretaceous and most of the Cenozoic [the current geological era], until the end of the Miocene,” she explains. In other words, from around 145 to 5.3 million years ago.
Given such an extensive history underwater, Wafa believes that finding a marine turtle is not particularly surprising. “If it were a terrestrial turtle, in my opinion, it would be more striking,” she says.
The group is now preparing to publish the third paper in the series they named Recovering Lost Time. “Not just geological time, but also the time during which paleontological studies were halted there. Perhaps in the future, we can think about deepening studies in Syria,” concludes Langer.
The article Recovering lost time in Syria: a new Eocene stereogenyin turtle from the Aleppo Plateau is available here. The first paper in the series, Recovering lost time in Syria: New Late Cretaceous (Coniacian-Santonian) elasmosaurid remains from the Palmyrides mountain chain, can be read here.
More information: wafaadelhalabi@gmail.com, with Wafa Adel Alhalabi; mclanger@ffclrp.usp.br, with Max Langer
*Intern under the supervision of Moisés Dorado
English version: Nexus Traduções, edited by Denis Pacheco
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A reprodução de matérias e fotografias é livre mediante a citação do Jornal da USP e do autor. No caso dos arquivos de áudio, deverão constar dos créditos a Rádio USP e, em sendo explicitados, os autores. Para uso de arquivos de vídeo, esses créditos deverão mencionar a TV USP e, caso estejam explicitados, os autores. Fotos devem ser creditadas como USP Imagens e o nome do fotógrafo.