''Araiochelys'' ("narrow turtle") is an extinct

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

of bothremydid pleurodiran turtle that was discovered in the

Ouled Abdoun Basin The Oulad Abdoun Basin (also known as the Ouled Abdoun Basin or Khouribga Basin) is a phosphate sedimentary basin located in Morocco, near the city of Khouribga. It is the largest in Morocco, comprising 44% of Morocco's phosphate reserves, and a ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

.E. S. Gaffney, H. Tong, and P. A. Meylan. 2006. Evolution of the side-necked turtles: The families Bothremydidae, Euraxemydidae, and Araripemydidae. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 300:1-318 The genus consists solely of

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specime ...

''A. hirayamai''.

Discovery

''Araiochelys'' was discovered in the Ouled Abdoun Basin of Morocco, primarily known for its Maastrichtian and Paleocene fossils.

Description

The preorbital section of ''Araiochelyss skull is narrower than in all other members of the Bothremydini. The dorsal process is noted by the describers as being narrow in contrast to ''Bothremys''. The ridge forming the lower rim of the orbit is relatively distinct, also in contrast to ''Bothremys''.

References

Prehistoric turtle genera Paleocene turtles Fossils of Morocco Bothremydidae Paleocene life Cretaceous Africa Fossil taxa described in 2006 Monotypic turtle genera {{paleo-turtle-stub