Scientists have been trying for years to determine how turtles developed their protective shells. There has been newly found evidence that turtles lived at one point without any shell over their back. A new fossil discovered from Guizhou province of south-west China dates back to 228 million years. This ancient fossil looks very much like a turtle and has a beak in the front end. This fossil has been named Eorhynchochelys sinensis, which means "Dawn turtle with a beak from China".
There are two theories about the emerging of the turtle shell. One states it formed from bony and scale-like growths that developed on the chnology