Hispaniachelys
Hispaniachelys is an extinct genus of paracryptodire or basal testudines turtle known from the Lorente Formation of southern Spain.[1] Reinterpretation of the original material shows that the taxon lacks diagnostic characteristics and is thus a nomen dubium.[2]
Hispaniachelys | |
---|---|
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Order: | Testudines |
Suborder: | Cryptodira |
Genus: | †Hispaniachelys Slater et al., 2011 |
Species: | †H. prebetica |
Binomial name | |
†Hispaniachelys prebetica Slater et al., 2011 | |
Description
Hispaniachelys is known from postcranial material. It is the only known tetrapod from the Mesozoic of the Prebetic and the oldest turtle from southern Europe, dating to the late Oxfordian of the early Late Jurassic, about 161.2-158 million years ago.[1]
Etymology
Hispaniachelys was first named by Ben J. Slater, Matías Reolid, Remmert Schouten, and Michael J. Benton in 2011 and the type species is Hispaniachelys prebetica. The generic name is derived from Hispania, a Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula or Spain, and -chelys, Greek for "turtle". The specific name refers to the Prebetic, where the holotype was discovered.[1]
References
- Ben J. Slater, Matías Reolid, Remmert Schouten and Michael J. Benton (2011). "A new Late Jurassic turtle from Spain: phylogenetic implications, taphonomy and palaeoecology". Palaeontology. 54 (6): 1393–1414. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2011.01100.x.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
- Anquetin, J.; Püntener, C.; Joyce, W.G. (2017). "A Review of the Fossil Record of Turtles of the Clade Thalassochelydia" (PDF). Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History. 58 (2): 317–369.