A family fishing trip in south Alabama led to the remarkable discovery of a 32-million-year-old leatherback sea turtle fossil, now identified as a new genus and species named Ueloca colemanorum.

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Caption: Paleontologist Andrew Gentry (left) with Poarch Creek Indians Tribal Member and student researcher Kimberly Gregson (right) standing behind the fossilized shell of the newly discovered leatherback sea turtle Ueloca colemanorum. Credit: Telegraph Creative

Named in part using the Muscogee language by Tribal Members of the Poarch Creek Indians, the fossil is among the most complete leatherback specimens ever found. The discovery has not only helped scientists better understand the history of leatherback sea turtles but also highlights both Alabama’s growing reputation as a fossil hotspot and the Tribe’s commitment to preserving language and culture in scientific records.

The fossil, first spotted by the Coleman family in 2021, was later recovered with the help of paleontologists from the Learning Campus at Gulf State Park, McWane Science Center, the Geological Survey of Alabama, and other institutions. It is currently on public display at McWane Science Center in Birmingham, Ala.

The scientific study of Ueloca titled, “A new leatherback marine turtle from the lower Oligocene of North America and a phylogenetic nomenclature for Dermochelyidae” was published today in the open access journal Palaeodiversity and can be downloaded here: https://doi.org/10.18476/pale.v18.a6.

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