''Puentemys'' is an extinct genus of

bothremydid 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 be ...

turtle from the Paleocene-age

Cerrejón Formation The Cerrejón Formation is a geologic formation in Colombia dating back to the Middle-Late Paleocene. It is found in the El Cerrejón sub-basin of the Cesar-Ranchería Basin of La Guajira and Cesar. The formation consists of bituminous coal field ...

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

. It is the largest known bothremydid with a shell length of up to . ''Puentemys'' is the only Paleocene bothremydid known from South America, and is most closely related to the genus ''

Foxemys ''Foxemys'' is an extinct genus of bothremydid turtle that was discovered at Fox Amphoux, France and also Hungary and Spain.A. Pérez-García and F. Ortega. 2018. Identification of the French Upper Cretaceous bothremydid turtle ''Foxemys mechino ...

'' from the Late Cretaceous of Europe, showing that Bothremydini, the tribe of bothremydids to which ''Puentemys'' belonged, had a nearly worldwide distribution across the K-T boundary. The ancestors of ''Puentemys'' may have reached South America by dispersing across Paleocene coastlines or by riding currents across the Atlantic Ocean.

References

Bothremydidae Paleocene turtles Paleocene reptiles of South America Itaboraian Peligran Paleogene Colombia Fossils of Colombia Cerrejón Formation Fossil taxa described in 2012 {{turtle-stub