New research based on fragments discovered at the Neumark-Nord site in Germany suggests Neanderthals may have transformed the shells into tools April 15, 2026 10:46 a.m. This illustration shows the size difference between a European pond turtle and a straight-tusked elephant. Nicole Viehofer / MONREPOS (LEIZA) While living in central Europe roughly 125,000 years ago, Neanderthals regularly hunted European pond turtles. But they probably didn’t kill the small reptiles to eat them. Instead, a new study published in the journal Scientific Reports suggests they likely targeted the creatures for their shells, which they transformed into useful tools. Past research suggested that Neanderthals hunted and processed turtles farther south, in the Mediterranean region. But, so far, this is the first such discovery north of the Alps. From the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, archaeologists unearthed a trove of animal remains at a former lignite open-cast mine in central Germany.…