Do turtles have common ancestors that evolved many turtle-like traits before they acquired shells? So claim recent papers by Michael Lee published in Science and Natural History. An artist’s conception of lizard-to-turtle progression was demonstrated and published by this author; but only one photograph of a skeleton was documented. Forty-five lizard-like creatures were divided into seven groups each and similarities were delineated. Yet Lee’s technical paper stated that the "evidence uniting captorhinid... with turtles is shown to be weak." No statistical significance is demonstrated. In fact the author of these theories admits to a lack of objectivity and to the embarrassment of persistent gaps in the continuum of life.