''Clemmys'' is a genus of turtles currently containing a single extant species, the spotted turtle ''(Clemmys guttata)''.
Taxonomy
In the past, several other species were included in the genus, including a number of fossil species. DNA analysis has restricted the genus to containing only the spotted turtle. Fossil species are now restricted to the
Neogene
The Neogene ( ,) is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning of the present Quaternary Period million years ago. It is the second period of th ...
of
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
as far back as the
Miocene
The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...
.
Extant species formerly in ''Clemmys''
* Wood turtle - now ''Glyptemys insculpta''
* Bog turtle - now ''Glyptemys muhlenbergii''
* Western pond turtle - now ''Actinemys marmorata''
Fossil
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...
Pliocene
The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch (geology), epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.33 to 2.58Clemmys owyheensis'' Brattstrom & Sturn, 1959 - Miocene (
Hemphillian
The Hemphillian North American Stage on the geologic timescale is a North American faunal stage according to the North American Land Mammal Ages chronology (NALMA), typically set from 10,300,000 to 4,900,000 years BP. It is usually considered t ...