Project title:
Turtles from Czechia and Poland: An overview of common evolution
in Central Europe since the Triassic until Recent
Acronym: Turtle-1
This research is part of the project No. 2022/45/P/NZ8/00600 co-funded by the National Science Centre and the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska -Curie grant agreement No. 945339.
Project managers:
Dr Milan Chroust
Research profilee-mail: chroust@twarda.pan.pl
Dr Tomasz Szczygielski
Research profilee-mail: t.szczygielski@twarda.pan.pl
Institute of Paleobiology of the Polish Academy of Sciences
Twarda 51/55
00-818 Warsaw
tel. +48 22 697 88 50
Description of the research base
About the project
News
08.04.2024
Apart from materials stored at the capitol, we travelled to visit a regional museum. At first, we started in Teplice, where dozens of fossil turtles mostly from Břeštany fossil site are deposited. The collection of trionychids is large and other researchers are welcome to examine local treasures.
05-10.04.2024
Both participants of the project spent three days at the National Museum in Prague, where hundreds of specimens are stored. An unbelievable amount of specimens showed so many details that they even reveal the sexual dimorphism and ontogenetic development. A fantastic further step in the project!
03.04.2024
The fellow Milan Chroust and his mentor Tomasz Szczygielski spent whole day at the collections of the Chlupáč's Museum of Earth History at the Charles University in Prague. Several specimens were digitized and will be accessible in the prepared database.
03.04.2024
Tomasz Szczygielski visited the Charles University in Prague. Besides the study the specimens housed in the collection, he held a lecture about the world of ancient turtles. He introduced the oldest fossil turtles and summarized the current knowledge about the Mesozoic and Cenozoic taxa not only from Poland and Czechia. The students and professors were excited at how rich the Czech and Polish fossil record is.
25.03.2024
Milan Chroust held a science talk for the public audience at the National Museum in Prague. The talk focused on the evolution of turtles and included fossils from Poland and Czechia. The concept of the Polonez Bis project No. 2022/45/P/NZ8/00600 was introduced as well. The heated discussion with the audience showed the general interest in the topic and therefore further talks are requested.
21.03.2024
The Institute of Paleobiology, PAS prepared a workshop for students from the ZDOLNI program by Krajowy Fundusz na rzecz Dzieci. The fellow Milan Chroust and his mentor Tomasz Szczygielski did not focus solely on the research on fossil turtles. The students later identified fossils by themselves and tried several different methods to interpret the data.
11.03.2024
Milan Chroust presented preliminary results of the current project to at the scientific staff of the Institute of Paleobiology, PAS. Further discussion improved the current interpretation of selected data and additional tips were included in the project.
28.11.2023
Milan Chroust held a science talk about his Polonez Bis project No. 2022/45/P/NZ8/00600 at the University of Warsaw. He discussed with the academic members and students the occurrences of fossil turtles in Czechia and Poland.
21.11.2023
Turtle workshop for scholarship holders of the ZDOLNI Program run by the Krajowy Fundusz na rzecz Dzieci was held at the Institute of Paleobiology of the Polish Academy of Sciences. The kids learned the differences between the bones and dermal scutes and they built their own turtle.
10.11.2023
Fellow and his mentor studied a very important specimen of Glarichelys knorri housed in the Regional Museum in Jasło. This is yet another piece of the puzzle!
09.11.2023
After some time, the researchers visited ISEZ PAN again to study the collection of extant and fossil turtles. Together with Dr. Georgalis, the curator of the herpetological collection, they digitized several important species.
6.07-7.07.2023
The fellow and his mentor studied hundreds of fossils housed at the Museum of the Earth in Warsaw. Together, they found very important holotypes which were considered to be lost. Another puzzle in the research of fossil turtles was solved!
The fellow and his mentor studied hundreds of fossils housed at the Museum of the Earth in Warsaw. Together, they found very important holotypes which were considered to be lost. Another puzzle in the research of fossil turtles was solved!
22.06.2023
Another collection was visited. The fellow and his mentor visited Prof. Piotr Węgierek at the University of Silesia in Katowice. A very important fossil of a Neogene marine turtle was documented and transported for further analysis.
21.06.2023
The researchers visited a collection of the Institute of the Institute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals, PAS to study fossil turtles. Together with Dr. Georgalis, the curator of the herpetological collection, they discovered several amazing fossils important for their further research.
19.06-20.06.2023
The fellow Milan Chroust and his mentor Tomasz Szczygielski attended a Kick-off meeting in Kraków organised by the NCN. They both attended a workshop on career development, conducted by the POLONEZ BIS programme’s partner – CRAC-Vitae – and learned more about publishing in Open Access.
16.06.2023
The fellow Milan Chroust and his mentor Tomasz Szczygielski together with other members of the Institute of Paleobiology, PAS prepared a workshop for students from the program ZDOLNI by Krajowy Fundusz na rzecz Dzieci. The workshop was focused on the research of fossil turtles and students identified fossils by themselves and tried several different methods to interpret the data.
Outreaches
The Database