''Neusticemys'' is an extinct genus of thalassochelydian

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, ...

. Its

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 specimen ...

is ''Eurysternum neuquinum''. It is known from the

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 ...

(

Tithonian In the geological timescale, the Tithonian is the latest age of the Late Jurassic Epoch and the uppermost stage of the Upper Jurassic Series. It spans the time between 152.1 ± 4 Ma and 145.0 ± 4 Ma (million years ago). It is preceded by the K ...

) aged

Vaca Muerta The Vaca Muerta Formation, commonly known as Vaca Muerta (Spanish for ''Dead Cow''), is a geologic formation of Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous age, located in the Neuquén Basin in northern Patagonia, Argentina. It is well known as the host ro ...

of Patagonia, Argentina ''Neusticemys'' was originally described as a new species of ''

Eurysternum ''Eurysternum'' is an extinct genus of thalassochelydian turtle. Its type species is ''Eurysternum wagleri'', the holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species ...

'', but was later assigned to its own genus in 1993.M. S. Fernandez and M. S. de la Fuente. 1993. Las tortugas casiquélidias de las calizas litográficas titonianas del área Los Catutos Argentina. Ameghiniana 30(3):283-295.

References

Thalassochelydia Prehistoric turtle genera Tithonian genera Late Jurassic turtles Late Jurassic reptiles of South America Jurassic Argentina Fossils of Argentina Neuquén Basin Fossil taxa described in 1993 {{Paleo-turtle-stub