Pacifichelys

Pacifichelys is an extinct genus of sea turtle from the Middle Miocene of Peru (Pisco Formation) and California (Temblor Formation).[1][2] It was first named by James F. Parham and Nicholas D. Pyenson in 2010, and the type species is Pacifichelys urbinai from Peru.[2] A second species, P. hutchisoni, was reassigned from the genus Euclastes. It is known from the Miocene of California. Like the living Ridley and loggerhead sea turtles, Pacifichelys was durophagous, consuming hard-shelled organisms with crushing jaws.[2]

Pacifichelys
Temporal range: Mid Miocene (Friasian-Laventan)
~15.97–13.65 Ma
↓
Skull of Pacifichelys urbinai
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Testudines
Suborder: Cryptodira
Superfamily: Chelonioidea
Family: Cheloniidae
Genus: †Pacifichelys
Type species
Pacifichelys urbinai
Parham and Pyenson, 2010
Species
  • P. urbinai Parham and Pyenson, 2010
  • P. hutchisoni (Lynch and Parham, 2003)
Synonyms

Taxonomy

Cladogram based on Lynch and Parham (2003)[3] and Parham and Pyenson (2010):[2]

Cheloniidae sensu lato 
 

Toxochelys

 
 
 

Mexichelys [4]

 
 
 

Lophochelyinae

 
 
 

Euclastes

 
 
 

Argillochelys

 
 

Eochelone

 
 
 
 

Erquelinnesia

 
 

Pacifichelys

 
 
 
 

Puppigerus

 
 

Cheloniidae sensu stricto

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
An artist concept of Pacifichelys urbinai based on fossil records and descriptions
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References
  1. Pacifichelys at Fossilworks.org
  2. James F. Parham; Nicholas D. Pyenson (2010). "New Sea Turtle from the Miocene of Peru and the Iterative Evolution of Feeding Ecomorphologies since the Cretaceous". Journal of Paleontology. 84 (2): 231–247. doi:10.1666/09-077R.1.
  3. Lynch, S.C.; Parham, J.F. (2003). "The first report of hard-shelled sea turtles (Cheloniidae sensu lato) from the Miocene of California, including a new species (Euclastes hutchisoni) with unusually plesiomorphic characters" (PDF). PaleoBios. 23 (3): 21–35.
  4. http://paleodb.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?action=checkTaxonInfo&taxon_no=165647&is_real_user=0
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