“Within a few minutes, we could tell it was a pretty complete turtle shell and worth collecting,” he said. The turtle shell was found in a roughly 50-million-year-old rock layer known as the Bridger Formation. Cavigelli said the ancient reptile was likely a softshell turtle, which means the top shell is not connected to the bottom shell and the shell itself is softer, flatter and more flexible. The softshell turtle family is still around today, and the ancient turtle probably looked quite a bit like its modern descendants. Thomas said Pope and his grandparents finding the shell shows how everyone can be involved in paleontology, especially on public lands.