Cryptodires

Systematics and evolution

Cryptodires evolved from pleurodires during the early Jurassic period, originating from South America and Southeast Asia. This split corresponds with the breakup of the supercontinent Pangaea. By the end of the Jurassic, cryptodires had almost completely replaced pleurodires in the lakes and rivers, while beginning to develop land-based species. Meanwhile, pleurodires became the dominant freshwater testudines in the Cretaceous to Eocene of Europe, and produced a family of marine species, the Bothremydidae.