Kōrero: Native plants and animals – overview

Teacher Jane Hill shows where she found fossils of a 33-million-year-old marine turtle, at Whareora, Northland. The fossils were from a member of the family Cheloniidae, previously known only from western Europe. The division between sea life and terrestrial life blurs with some species – marine turtles come ashore to breed. When this turtle was alive, northern New Zealand had a marginally tropical climate, and the turtle may have bred ashore. Today, five marine turtle species are found in New Zealand waters, but none breed ashore.