European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 10, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Science amp the world scientists split Over the True origins of turtles Curt Suplee Washington Post a mutant turtles All too Well Knowivin-1 a a vib popular culture have Long been an i i Enigma to science. X a Al or do cads zoologists have argued Over How turtles Are related to other reptiles with whom they shares common ancestry but few obvious similarities. Now researchers have proposed an nor Thodi Cory for the origin of the order. Reporting in the journal nature a cart Racisz and Michel Laurin of the University Lof Toronto argue that turtles evolved from a primitive Sis Tfir group of Early reptiles known As the Procolo Pho kids previously thought to be extinct. The authors base their findings on new Fossil evidence from South Africa the Bones of a Small a Para reptiles called Owenetta that lived about 220 million years ago. By comparing details of its Skull with those of modern turtles they conclude that today a species Are More closely related to these Lizard like creatures a Hout shells than to  other paleozoic  if confirmed this theory could resolve a longstanding mystery of palaeontology. All reptiles Birds and mammals belong to the maniotes a Ani the mysterious Turtle is it a True reptile or some kind of mutant file Mals that produce eggs surrounded by a Sachse membrane that permits an embryo to become highly developed before birth in contrast to amphibians which Lay their eggs in water. Conventional thinking divides the maniotes into two Broad groups one produced mammals _ one branched to evolve Birds and modern reptiles despite their apparent dissimilarity members of the latter group share certain characteristics s in their skulls that facilitate muscle attachment. Turtles however never fit in they seemed to have taken some evolutionary off ramp from the main path of am note development. They Lack Skull openings and they have distinctive shells and a unique design feature a a rib Cage outside the shoulder Girdle. This configuration has persisted largely unchanged for 2 h million years before that there is a us million year Gap in the Fossil record making it impossible to picture the turtles evolutionary predecessors. In fact says Gene Gaffney a curator at the american museum of natural history in new York a we can to even imagine what a half Turtle would look  a the nature article is expected to intensify controversy in the Turtle evolution Community. Gal fancy deemed the Toronto theory a an interesting idea a but probably wrong. He is the leading proponent of the widely accepted notion that turtles descended from a different group of Early reptiles called captor Hinds. At a glance Oman size 82,030 Square Miles about size of new Mexico population 1,389,000 1989 estimate main languages  urdu a overview except for a Fertile plateau along the Gulf of Oman most of the country is dry and Rocky. A thousand of years and became noted seamen establishing Trade routes Between India Arabia and Eastern Africa. The omani were Nable to keep up with european ships in the mid-1800s, and the country a Power declined. Profits from Oil discovered in 1964, has funded Many economic mountainous area in the North is Cut off from the rest of the  the United Arab emirates while a second Mountain Range separates the plateau from the Interior avast Flat wasteland. Arabs have lived in the area for improvements but most people still struggle to make a living. Its a fact the a1 by said family based in Muscat came to Power in the 1700s and the country a name was changed to Muscat and Oman. It reverted to Oman in 1970.ana Al lest Nso q a x whatever happened to the Moholen the Hole that was to be drilled Down to the Moho an irregular line separating the Earth a crust from the underlying Mantle a 4 Kilometres of drilling would have been required. A a the backers expected the big problem to be holding the drilling vessel steady Over the site Meyer said. Also it was feared changing the Drill bit and going Back to the same Hole at great Depths would stymie the Effort. The contractor Brown amp Root proposed a two deck drilling platform the size of a City Block to ride High above the Waves on six columns supported by two giant submarine hulls. The Rig was to have been kept in place by thrusters in the columns. The Keels for the hulls were Laid the Hole itself was never begun but the idea was used later a leading its backers to claim the project lost the scientific Battle but won the War. _. T. I. T the Quot project was proposed in�?ol956 but rising a costs and political a and five years later the National controversy doomed the project. Science foundation chose a estimates climbed from the original contractor however five years Jitter $5 million to $125 million that Congress decided to end All funding. Still says Robert p. Meyer professor of geophysics at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. The idea proved the feasibility of. Drilling the shallower holes of the later deep sea drilling project which proved the plate tectonics theory of the Earth a history. Myer says the plan was to Drill in an area North and a Little East of Hawaii a there the Moho is Only about 9 Kilometres Down. About 5 Kilometres of that was water so Only in August t966, Congress Cut off All funds. However some valuable test holes were drilled from a smaller Craft the cuss i. It was held in place with huge outboard motors controlled by readings from buoys moored to the Bottom and used As Echo Range reference Points. These dynamic _ guidance principles were adapted for it the Slomar challenger vessel in the deep sea drilling project. New York times february 10,1991 sunday. Page