''Caririemys'' is an

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 ...

genus of side-necked turtles, belonging to the Pelomedusoides of the family Euraxemydidae. The type species is ''C. violetae''. A single fossil of an individual was found in the Santana Formation in Brazil, an 80-million-year-old Late Cretaceous deposit that has so far preserved other fossil reptiles such as dinosaurs and

crocodilian Crocodilia (or Crocodylia, both ) is an order of mostly large, predatory, semiaquatic reptiles, known as crocodilians. They first appeared 95 million years ago in the Late Cretaceous period ( Cenomanian stage) and are the closest living ...

Etymology

The genus was named for the city of

Santana do Cariri Santana do Cariri is a municipality in the state of Ceará in the Northeast region of Brazil. It is located in the immediate and intermediate region of Juazeiro do Norte, as well as in the region of influence of Juazeiro do Norte.The municipality ...

where the fossil was unearthed. The species'

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

, ''violetae'', honors Violeta Arraes, a former dean at the nearby Universidade Regional do Cariri. Arraes was a prominent local political figure during the 20th century and became instrumental in the development of paleontological studies in the area when she was appointed dean of the Universidade Regional do Cariri in 1997.

Description

Because the few remains used to describe the species were incomplete, anatomical characteristics used to differentiate ''Caririemys'' from other extinct and extant pleurodirans are derived mostly from the arrangement of the bony plates that form its domed

carapace A carapace is a Dorsum (biology), dorsal (upper) section of the exoskeleton or shell in a number of animal groups, including arthropods, such as crustaceans and arachnids, as well as vertebrates, such as turtles and tortoises. In turtles and tor ...

. The genus and species were first described in 2007, from the fragmentary remains of a single fossil specimen unearthed in north-eastern Brazil two years prior to the publication of the description. The Santana Formation of Brazil where the specimen was discovered is a treasure-trove of prehistoric turtle remains including the early sea turtle ''

Santanachelys ''Santanachelys gaffneyi'' is an extinct species of sea turtle. It is the only species in the genus ''Santanachelys'', which itself is a member of the extinct family Protostegidae. The species was first described from a 20-centimeter long foss ...

''. ''Caririemys'' was the fifth unique testudine genus to have been described from fossils found in the Romualdo Member section of the geologic formation. The lone specimen, officially labeled as MN6919-v now resides in the Museu Nacional da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. The turtle skeleton found consisted of parts of the turtle's carapace, a few vertebral elements and a matching femur and pelvis. Since most of the elements used to systematically classify a fossil turtle in the Pleurodira (such as the skull) were missing, the species’ affiliation was determined by the attachment of the specimen's pelvis to its carapace. Closer approximation and analysis of its carapace elements have shown that ''Caririemys'' is closely related to the turtle '' Euraxemys essweini'' from the same geographic locality and strata.

References

{{Testudines Pleurodira Prehistoric turtle genera Late Cretaceous turtles Late Cretaceous reptiles of South America Cretaceous Brazil Romualdo Formation Fossils of Brazil Fossil taxa described in 2007 Extinct turtles Monotypic prehistoric reptile genera