Nearly 13 million-year-old fossil named after Shakira ‘because they’re huge fans’

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Researchers in Colombia have discovered a turtle fossil dating back 13 million years.

Local farmers found a skull and shell from a species named Shakiremys Columbiana, after Grammy Award-winning singer Shakira.

The ancient fossil was unearthed in La Victoria in the Tatacoa desert, one of the world’s largest palaeontological sites.

It offers a glimpse into the Miocene epoch, when the area was occupied by lakes and rivers, according to research recently published in the journal, Papers in Palaeontology. Andres Felipe Vanegas, the director of the Tatacoa Natural History Museum, said analysis of the specimen turtle shell showed it was adapted to different water currents.