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Protostegidae
Protostegidae is a family of extinct sea turtle, marine turtles that lived during the Cretaceous period. The family includes some of the largest sea turtles that ever existed. The largest, ''Archelon'', had a head long. Like most sea turtles, they had flattened bodies and flipper (anatomy), flippers for front appendages; protostegids had minimal carapace, shells like Dermochelyidae, leatherback turtles of modern times. Anatomy As some of the first sea turtle, marine turtles, the protostegids set the general body plan for future species of sea turtles. They had a generally depressed turtle body plan, complete with four limbs, a short tail, and a large head at the end of a relatively short neck. Like other sea turtles, they possessed oar-like front appendages especially evolved for swimming in the open ocean. Similar to the still-extant taxon, extant, possibly closely related Dermochelyidae, protostegids possessed extremely reduced carapaces. Some specimens had skeletal protrusio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Archelon Ischyros
''Archelon'' is an extinct marine turtle from the Late Cretaceous, and is the largest turtle ever to have been documented, with the biggest specimen measuring from head to tail and in body mass. It is known only from the Dakota Pierre Shale and has one species, ''A. ischyros''. In the past, the genus also contained ''A. marshii'' and ''A. copei'', though these have been reassigned to '' Protostega'' and ''Microstega'', respectively. The genus was named in 1895 by American paleontologist George Reber Wieland based on a skeleton from South Dakota, who placed it into the extinct family Protostegidae. The leatherback sea turtle (''Dermochelys coriacea'') was once thought to be its closest living relative, but now, Protostegidae is thought to be a completely separate lineage from any living sea turtle. ''Archelon'' had a leathery carapace instead of the hard shell seen in sea turtles. The carapace may have featured a row of small ridges, each peaking at in height. It had an es ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Archelon
''Archelon'' is an extinct marine turtle from the Late Cretaceous, and is the largest turtle ever to have been documented, with the biggest specimen measuring from head to tail and in body mass. It is known only from the Dakota Pierre Shale and has one species, ''A. ischyros''. In the past, the genus also contained ''A. marshii'' and ''A. copei'', though these have been reassigned to '' Protostega'' and ''Microstega'', respectively. The genus was named in 1895 by American paleontologist George Reber Wieland based on a skeleton from South Dakota, who placed it into the extinct family Protostegidae. The leatherback sea turtle (''Dermochelys coriacea'') was once thought to be its closest living relative, but now, Protostegidae is thought to be a completely separate lineage from any living sea turtle. ''Archelon'' had a leathery carapace instead of the hard shell seen in sea turtles. The carapace may have featured a row of small ridges, each peaking at in height. It had an esp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ocepechelon
''Ocepechelon'' is an extinct genus of giant protostegid sea turtle known from Late Cretaceous (late Maastrichtian stage, 67 Myr) phosphatic deposits of the Oulad Abdoun Basin, Khouribga Province of Morocco. It is known from the holotype OCP DEK/GE 516, a complete but isolated 70-cm-long skull, making it one of the largest marine turtles ever described. It was first named by Nathalie Bardet, Nour-Eddine Jalil, France de Lapparent de Broin, Damien Germain, Olivier Lambert and Mbarek Amaghzaz in 2013 and the type species is ''Ocepechelon bouyai''. The feeding apparatus of ''Ocepechelon'', a bony pipette-like snout, is unique among tetrapods and shares unique convergences with both syngnathid fishes (unique long tubular bony snout ending in a rounded and forward directed mouth) and beaked whales (large size and elongated edentulous jaws). Description ''Ocepechelon'' is known solely from an isolated yet complete skull, 70 cm in length. From the size of the skull, it must have bee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Desmatochelys
''Desmatochelys'' (from Greek δεσμός ''desmos'' 'link' + χέλῡς ''khelus'' ‘tortoise’) is an extinct genus of sea turtles belonging to the family Protostegidae. This genus contains two known species, ''D. lowii'' and ''D. padillai''. ''D. lowii'' was first discovered in 1895, followed by ''D. padillai'' in 2015. Having been estimated at over 120 million years old, ''D. padillai'' is currently the oldest known species of sea turtle. ''Desmatochelys'' lived during the Cretaceous, and had a wide geographic range, primarily along the Western Interior Seaway. Taxonomy The genus contains two species: * ''Desmatochelys lowi'' * ''Desmatochelys padillai'' Initially, ''Desmatochelys'' formed its own family, Desmatochelydae. Later it was reassigned into the family Protostegidae. There is some debate among the paleontological community over the placement of Protostegidae (and therefore ''Desmatochelys'') within turtle phylogeny. According to Elizabeth L. Nicholls, the gen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sea Turtle
Sea turtles (superfamily Chelonioidea), sometimes called marine turtles, are reptiles of the order Testudines and of the suborder Cryptodira. The seven existing species of sea turtles are the flatback, green, hawksbill, leatherback, loggerhead, Kemp's ridley, and olive ridley sea turtles. All six of the sea turtle species present in US waters (all of those listed above except the flatback) are listed as endangered and/or threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The seventh sea turtle species is the flatback, which exists in the waters of Australia, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. Sea turtles can be separated into the categories of hard-shelled (cheloniid) and leathery-shelled ( dermochelyid).Wyneken, J. 2001. The Anatomy of Sea Turtles. U.S Department of Commerce NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-SEFSC-470, 1-172 pp. There is only one dermochelyid species which is the leatherback sea turtle. Description For each of the seven types of sea turtles, females and males are the sa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhinochelys
Rhinochelys is an extinct genus of sea turtles belonging to the family Protostegidae. Fossil records Fossils of ''Rhinochelys'' have been found in Cenomanian-age marine deposits of southern England, Lebanon, and France. Species Three species of ''Rhinochelys'' are recognized:Scavezzoni I, Fischer V. (2018) Rhinochelys amaberti Moret (1935), a protostegid turtle from the Early Cretaceous of France. PeerJ 6:e4594 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.4594 * ''Rhinochelys pulchriceps'' (Owen, 1851) * ''Rhinochelys amaberti'' Moret, 1935 * ''Rhinochelys nammourensis'' Tong, Hirayama, Makhoul & Escuillie, 2006Haiyan Tong, Hirayama R., Makhoul, E. & Escuillie F. 2006. Rhinochelys (Chelonioidea : Protostegidae) from the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) of Nammoura, Lebanon. Atti della società italiana di scienze naturali e del museo civico di storia naturale di Milano 147 (1) : 113 – 138 ''Rhinochelys cantabrigiensis'' and ''R. elegans'', both named by Richard Lydekker in 1889, are recover ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Santanachelys
''Santanachelys gaffneyi'' is an extinct species of sea turtle. It is the only species in the genus ''Santanachelys'', which itself is a member of the extinct family Protostegidae. The species was first described from a 20-centimeter long fossil specimen unearthed in 1998 from the Santana Formation of eastern Brazil. From the rock layer from which it was excavated, it was determined that the specimen was from the Early Cretaceous period (112 million years old). It is therefore one of the oldest known sea turtles. but a new fossil named '' Desmatochelys'' ''padillai'' in 2015 is estimated to be as old as 120 million years. While the specimen showed many characteristics of modern sea turtles, it differed from the typical sea turtle body plan in several ways. One glaring difference is that ''Santanachelys'' had distinguishable digits at the tip of its forearms. Instead of the fully fused, hydrodynamic paddles that modern sea turtles possess, the early sea turtle's digits were di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Calcarichelys
''Calcarichelys'' ('spur turtle' or 'thorn turtle') is an extinct genus of protostegid turtle from the Late Cretaceous of the Selma Formation in Alabama, and possibly from Angola. It contains only one species, ''C. gemma.'' Discovery The holotype specimen of ''Calcarichelys'' is known from Mooreville Chalk, Alabama. More complete specimens are later described from same formation. Another specimen that possibly belongs to ''Calcarichelys'' or related species is known from the Maastrichtian of Bentiaba, Angola. Description ''Calcarichelys'' is a small protostegid, with a carapace length of . It is probably closely related to ''Chelosphargis ''Chelosphargis'' is an extinct genus of sea turtle from Upper Cretaceous of Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomer ...'', as they share some characteristics. Unlike ''Chelosphargis'', ''Calcarichelys'' is ch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Terlinguachelys
''Terlinguachelys fischbecki'' is an extinct sea turtle that existed during the Late Cretaceous period some 80 million years ago. It is the sole species in the genus ''Terlinguachelys'' and is classified in the family Protostegidae along with other extinct marine turtles. As an early sea turtle, ''Terlinguachelys'' already showed several characteristics typical of modern sea turtles. These included a dorsoventrally-flattened body, a comparatively large head with a short neck and the iconic flattened paddle-like arms that sea turtles distinctly possess. However, some anatomical differences identify the turtle as a more basal member of the sea turtle superfamily. The posterior portion of ''Terlinguachelys mandible for example has several elements that are reduced in later forms. Whereas the posterior portions of modern sea turtles' mandibles are smoother and streamlined, that of ''Terlinguachelys'' has prominent fossae. The plates that comprise the carapace of the lone specimen ex ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chelosphargis
''Chelosphargis'' is an extinct genus of sea turtle from Upper Cretaceous of Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al .... Only one species has been described, ''Chelosphargis advena''.Zangerl, R., 1953, The Vertebrate Fauna of the Selma Formation of Alabama. Part III. The Turtles of the family Protostegidae. Part IV. The Turtles of the family Toxochelydiae. ''Fieldiana: Geology Memoirs'' v. 3, n. 3 and 4, p. 57-276. References External linksLife History: Geologic History of Sea Turtles Late Cretaceous turtles of North America Protostegidae Extinct animals of North America Prehistoric turtle genera {{paleo-turtle-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cratochelone
''Cratochelone'' is an extinct genus of sea turtle in the family Protostegidae and containing a single species ''Cratochelone berneyi''. The species is known only from the mid to late Albian Toolebuc Formation, part of the rolling downs group, in the Hughenden of Central northern Queensland, Australia. History and classification ''Cratochelone berneyi'' is known only from one fossil, the holotype, specimen number "QM F14550". The specimen is composed of a grouping of disassociated post-cranial skeleton elements in a hard, fine-grained and "dirty-stone colored" sedimentary matrix. The bones include portions of the left side plastron, the shoulder girdle, and segments of a forelimb. The fossil is thought to have been recovered by F. L. Berney from outcrops of the Toolebuc Formation exposed in the Eromanga Basin. The type specimen is currently preserved in the paleontology collections housed in the Queensland Museum, in Brisbane, Australia. ''Cratochelone'' was first studied b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iserosaurus
''Iserosaurus'' is an extinct genus of sea turtle from the Late Cretaceous of Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The .... Taxonomy ''Iserosaurus'' was originally described as a new taxon of mosasauroid by Fritsch (1905) on the basis of a disarticulated skeleton from Turonian-age chalk deposits in Bohemia, Czech Republic. However, Persson (1963) tentatively listed it as a dubious plesiosaur in his overview of plesiosaur classification. Karl (2002) recognized ''Iserosaurus'' as being a protostegid turtle and assigned it to cf. ''Archelon''. Kear et al. (2013) agreed with Karl (2002) that ''Iserosaurus'' is a marine turtle but noted differences from ''Archelon'', so assigned the genus to Protostegidae indet.Kear, B.P., Ekrt, B., Prokop, J. & Georgalis, G.L. (20 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
