Employees of Institute of oil and gas of North-Caucasus Federal University have discovered during excavations in the Stavropol region of large abdominal shield fossil of an ancient turtle. As reported in the press service of North Caucasus Federal University, a unique discovery placed in a Museum, and information about it is transferred to the Zoological Institute RAS in St. Petersburg.
– it really is a unique find, rarely manages to detect such large samples. In the expedition, I accidentally saw a small orange strip, – said head of chair of geophysical methods of prospecting and exploration of mineral resources Abdul-Gapur Kerimov.
Found the shell of a sand quarry in the village of Beshpagir Grachevsky area quite by accident. Scientists arrived at the quarry for the preparation of the site for the conduct of scientific practices for students, so they did not have the right tools for accurate extraction of finds. In place of the invited experts from the Stavropol state Museum-reserve named after G. N. Prozriteleva and G. K. Law.
– We assumed it was an ancient turtle. The quality of minerals depends on the environmental conditions. This turtle is well preserved because it was in the sand, which then turned into a rather large Sandstone. For 8 million years, she is completely petrified. We found her laying upside down. When I hit the Sandstone, it was found that survived even the pattern on the shell, – said Abdul Gapur Kerimov.
Scientists from St. Petersburg will determine the scientific value and rarity of the shell, and then together with colleagues from Stavropol regional Museum and the NCFU will decide what to do with the discovery on.
