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Side-necked Turtle
The Pleurodira are one of the two living suborders of turtles, the other being the Cryptodira. The division between these two suborders represents a very deep evolutionary divide between two very different types of turtles. The physical differences between them, although anatomical and largely internal, are nonetheless significant, and the zoogeographic implications of them are substantial. The Pleurodira are known more commonly as the side-necked turtles and the name Pleurodira quite literally translates to side neck, whereas the Cryptodira are known as hidden-necked turtles. The Pleurodira turtles are currently restricted to freshwater habitats in the Southern Hemisphere, largely to Australia, South America, and Africa. Within the Pleurodira, three living families are represented: Chelidae, also known as the Austro-South American side-necked turtles, the Pelomedusidae, also known as the African mud terrapins, and the Podocnemididae, also known as the American side-neck river tur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Late Jurassic
The Late Jurassic is the third epoch of the Jurassic Period, and it spans the geologic time from 163.5 ± 1.0 to 145.0 ± 0.8 million years ago (Ma), which is preserved in Upper Jurassic strata.Owen 1987. In European lithostratigraphy, the name "Malm" indicates rocks of Late Jurassic age. In the past, ''Malm'' was also used to indicate the unit of geological time, but this usage is now discouraged to make a clear distinction between lithostratigraphic and geochronologic/chronostratigraphic units. Subdivisions The Late Jurassic is divided into three ages, which correspond with the three (faunal) stages of Upper Jurassic rock: Paleogeography During the Late Jurassic Epoch, Pangaea broke up into two supercontinents, Laurasia to the north, and Gondwana to the south. The result of this break-up was the spawning of the Atlantic Ocean. However, at this time, the Atlantic Ocean was relatively narrow. Life forms of the epoch This epoch is well known for many famous types of dinosau ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bothremydidae
Bothremydidae is an extinct family of side-necked turtles (Pleurodira) known from the Cretaceous and Cenozoic. They are closely related to Podocnemididae, and are amongst the most widely distributed pleurodire groups, with their fossils having been found in Africa, India, the Middle East, Europe, North America and South America. Bothremydids were aquatic turtles with a high morphological diversity, indicative of generalist, molluscivorous, and piscivorous diets. Unlike modern pleurodires, which are exclusively freshwater, bothremydids inhabited freshwater, marine and coastal settings. Their marine habits allowed bothremydids to disperse across oceanic barriers into Europe and North America during the early Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian). The youngest records of the group are indeterminate remains from Saudi Arabia and Oman, dating to the Miocene. Taxonomy The family is split into two subfamilies and a number of tribes. Bothremydidae *'' Pleurochayah appalachius'' Adrian et al., ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sahonachelyidae
Sahonachelyidae is an extinct family of pelomedusoid turtles from the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Maevarano Formation of Madagascar. The clade was recognized in 2021 by Joyce et al., and contains two genera: '' Sahonachelys'' and '' Sokatra''. The clade is characterized by the presence of a reduced contribution of the maxilla to the floor of the orbit, and, the presence of a distinct posterior process of the maxilla The maxilla (plural: ''maxillae'' ) in vertebrates is the upper fixed (not fixed in Neopterygii) bone of the jaw formed from the fusion of two maxillary bones. In humans, the upper jaw includes the hard palate in the front of the mouth. T .... The clade went extinct at the end of the Cretaceous period during the K-Pg extinction event. References Pleurodira Prehistoric turtles {{paleo-turtle-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peiropemydidae
Podocnemididae is a family of pleurodire (side-necked) turtles, once widely distributed. Most of its 20 genera and 30 species are now extinct. Seven of its eight surviving species are native to South America: the genus '' Peltocephalus'', with only one species (''P. dumerilianus'', the big-headed Amazon River turtle); and the genus ''Podocnemis'', with six living species of South American side-necked river turtles. There is also one genus native to Madagascar: ''Erymnochelys'', the Madagascan big-headed turtle, whose single species ''E. madagascariensis''. Like other pleurodire turtles, podocs have a "side-necked" defensive posture, turning the head sideways to hide it under the shell. Another characteristic of pleurodires is that the pelvis is fused to the shell which prevents pelvic motion, making it difficult to walk on land. Podocnemididae turtles live in aquatic environments and have shells streamlined to aid in swimming. Taxonomy and systematics According to Ferreira et ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Araripemydidae
Araripemydidae is a family of freshwater aquatic turtles belonging to the order Pleurodira (side-necked turtles), known from the Early Cretaceous of South America and Africa. The family contains two recognised monotypic genera, ''Araripemys'' and '' Taquetochelys'', from the Santana Group of Brazil and the Elrhaz Formation of Niger, respectively, which date to the Aptian-Albian stages of the Early Cretaceous. They are consider to be the most basal lineage within the Pelomedusoides. They are thought to have been specialised suction feeder Aquatic feeding mechanisms face a special difficulty as compared to feeding on land, because the density of water is about the same as that of the prey, so the prey tends to be pushed away when the mouth is closed. This problem was first identifi ...s. ''Laganemys'' was named in 2013 but was later determined to be synonymous with ''Taquetochelys.'' References Prehistoric reptiles of South America Late Cretaceous first appearances Pale ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Platychelyidae
Platychelyidae is an extinct family of pan-pleurodiran turtles, known from the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous of Europe, South America, North America, and the Caribbean. It represents the oldest known clade of stem-pleurodires. All known members have been found in marine or coastal deposits. Despite this, their limb morphology suggests that they were not adapted for open marine conditions, but were likely inhabitants of shallow water environments, including brackish and saline waters, and they likely never inhabited environments more marine than lagoons. Their tolerance for saline environments likely aided their dispersal during the breakup of Pangea. Unlike modern pleurodires, which retract their necks to the sides, '' Platychelys'' retracted its neck inwards, similar to modern cryptodire turtles. ''Platychelys'' is strongly morphologically similar to mata mata and snapping turtles, suggesting that it had a similar ecology as a ram or suction feeder. Genera After * '' Pla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Extinction
Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point. Because a species' potential range may be very large, determining this moment is difficult, and is usually done retrospectively. This difficulty leads to phenomena such as Lazarus taxa, where a species presumed extinct abruptly "reappears" (typically in the fossil record) after a period of apparent absence. More than 99% of all species that ever lived on Earth, amounting to over five billion species, are estimated to have died out. It is estimated that there are currently around 8.7 million species of eukaryote globally, and possibly many times more if microorganisms, like bacteria, are included. Notable extinct animal species include non-avian dinosaurs, saber-toothed cats, dodos, m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dortokidae
Dortokidae is an extinct family of freshwater pan- pleurodiran turtles, known from the Cretaceous and Paleocene of Europe. Only four species have been named, but indeterminate fossils show that they were abundant across western and eastern-central Europe during the Cretaceous. The family is only known from postcranial remains. Genera * '' Eodortoka'' Pérez-García, Gasulla, and Ortega 2014 Arcillas de Morella Formation, Spain, Early Cretaceous ( Aptian) * '' Dortoka'' Lapparent de Broin and Murelaga, 1999 Laño site, Spain, Late Cretaceous (Campanian-Maastrichtian) Sînpetru Formation, Romania, Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) * '' Ronella'' Lapparent de Broin in Gheerbrant et al. 1999 Jibou Formation, Romania Paleocene (Thanetian The Thanetian is, in the ICS Geologic timescale, the latest age or uppermost stratigraphic stage of the Paleocene Epoch or Series. It spans the time between . The Thanetian is preceded by the Selandian Age and followed by the Ypresian Age ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Panpleurodira
The Pleurodira are one of the two living suborders of turtles, the other being the Cryptodira. The division between these two suborders represents a very deep evolutionary divide between two very different types of turtles. The physical differences between them, although anatomical and largely internal, are nonetheless significant, and the zoogeographic implications of them are substantial. The Pleurodira are known more commonly as the side-necked turtles and the name Pleurodira quite literally translates to side neck, whereas the Cryptodira are known as hidden-necked turtles. The Pleurodira turtles are currently restricted to freshwater habitats in the Southern Hemisphere, largely to Australia, South America, and Africa. Within the Pleurodira, three living families are represented: Chelidae, also known as the Austro-South American side-necked turtles, the Pelomedusidae, also known as the African mud terrapins, and the Podocnemididae, also known as the American side-neck river tu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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