''Elseya uberrima'' is a

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

extinct 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 ...

Taxonomy

During his time at the Queensland Museum, Charles Walter De Vis described a number of fossil turtles from the Darling Downs region of

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

.Thomson SA. 2000. A Revision of the Fossil Chelid Turtles (Pleurodira) Described by C.W. De Vis, 1897. ''Memoirs of the Queensland Museum'' 45 (2): 593–598. (Brisbane). All four species described were declared a single diagnosable species by Thomson, 2000. To avoid confusion the synonymy for the species is as follows: *''Elseya uberrima'' (De Vis, 1897De Vis CW. 1897. The extinct freshwater turtles of Queensland. ''Annals of the Queensland Museum'' 3: 3–7.) **''Chelymys uberrima'' De Vis, 1897: 3 **''Chelymys antiqua'' De Vis 1897: 4 **''Chelymys arata'' De Vis 1897: 5 **''Pelocomastes ampla'' De Vis 1897: 6–7 This synonymy has made the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

name ''Pelocomastes'' a junior synonym of ''

Elseya ''Elseya'' is a genus of large side-necked turtles, commonly known as Australian snapping turtles, in the family Chelidae. Species in the genus ''Elseya'' are found in river systems in northern and northeastern Australia and throughout the river ...

'' and in their recent revision of that genus Thomson et al. (2015)Thomson, S., Amepou, Y., Anamiato, J. & Georges, A. 2015. A new species and subgenus of ''Elseya'' (Testudines: Pleurodira: Chelidae) from New Guinea. ''Zootaxa'' 4006(1):59–82
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/ref> resurrected ''Pelocomastes'' as a

subgenus In biology, a subgenus (plural: subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between t ...

to represent the

clade of the ''

''. Therefore, ''Elseya'' (''Pelocomastes'') ''uberrima'' is the type species for this subgenus. frame, center, middle, alt=A) A) Lectotype of ''Elseya uberrima''; B) lectotype of ''Elseya arata''; C-D) dorsal and ventral views of the lectotype of ''Pelocomastes ampla''.

References

{{Testudines Elseya (Pelocomastes) uberrima Eocene turtles Extinct turtles Extinct animals of Australia Turtles of Australia