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Erquelinnesia Skull
''Erquelinnesia'' is an extinct turtle genus from the Cretaceous period, which has been found in fossils. Paleontologist Louis Dollo first described this genus late 19th century from fossilized samples found in the layers of Upper Paleocene / Lower Eocene in Hainaut, Belgium. ''Erquelinnesia'' lived between the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian, about 70.6 million years ago) and Lower Paleocene (Danian, about 61.7 million years ago). Louis Dollo named his discovery as ''Pachyrhynchus gosseleti'' in 1886. However, in the following year, the nomenclature was changed by Dollo to ''Erquelinnesia gosseleti'' to resolve a conflict with another already existing generic name. Moreover, an additional species was attributed to the genus ''Erquelinnesia''. The North American species called ''Erquelinnesia molaria'' that was known only from a fossilized mandible bone has subsequently re-categorized to the genus ''Euclastes''. In 2010, new remnants were found in South America. The newly discov ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ninth and longest geological period of the entire Phanerozoic. The name is derived from the Latin , 'chalk', which is abundant in the latter half of the period. It is usually abbreviated K, for its German translation . The Cretaceous was a period with a relatively warm climate, resulting in high Sea level#Local and eustatic, eustatic sea levels that created numerous shallow Inland sea (geology), inland seas. These oceans and seas were populated with now-extinct marine reptiles, ammonites, and rudists, while dinosaurs continued to dominate on land. The world was largely ice-free, although there is some evidence of brief periods of glaciation during the cooler first half, and forests extended to the poles. Many of the dominant taxonomic gr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eucryptodira Fossil Skulls
The Cryptodira (') are a suborder of Testudines that includes most living tortoises and turtles. Cryptodira is commonly called the "Hidden-Neck Turtles" or the "Inside-Neck Turtles". Cryptodira differ from Pleurodira (side-necked turtles) in that they lower their necks and pull the heads straight back into the shells, instead of folding their necks sideways along the body under the shells' marginals. They include among their species freshwater turtles, snapping turtles, tortoises, softshell turtles, and sea turtles. Neck retraction The Cryptodira are characterized by retraction of the head in the vertical plane, which permits for primarily vertical movements and restricted lateral movements outside of the shell. These motions are largely due to the morphology and arrangement of cervical vertebrae. In all recent turtles, the cervical column consists of nine joints and eight vertebrae. Compared to the narrow vertebrae and the closely positioned zygapophyses of the pleurodire ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Puppigerus
''Puppigerus'' is an extinct genus of sea turtle from the Eocene. It is known from finds in the United States, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Denmark, and Uzbekistan. Taxonomy ''Puppigerus'' was described by Edward Drinker Cope in 1870. As of 1997, ''P. camperi'' and ''P. crassicostata'' were considered the two valid species. ''P. camperi'' was later thought to be the sole species of the genus until the 2005 discovery of ''P. nessovi'' from Uzbekistan. Description Fossils show that ''Puppigerus'' was around long, and its weight has been estimated as being somewhere around . Although cheloniids such as ''Puppigerus'' first appeared during the Cretaceous, several traits of this genus give it more of a resemblance to modern cheloniids: its "huge" eyes pointed sideways rather than upward, unlike more primitive cheloniids, and its shell was completely ossified. The pygal (rearmost plate of the upper shell) also lacked the notch seen in earlier cheloniids. It was a herbivore, living ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eochelone
''Eochelone'' is an extinct genus of sea turtle from the late Eocene. It was first named by Dollo in 1903. Its type species is ''E. brabantica''. References Professor Paul's Guide to Reptiles''Eochelone''in the Paleobiology Database The Paleobiology Database (PBDB) is an online resource for information on the distribution and classification of fossil animals, plants, and microorganisms. History The Paleobiology Database originated in the NCEAS-funded Phanerozoic Marine Pale ... * * Chelonioidea Eocene turtles Fossils of Denmark Prehistoric turtle genera Monotypic prehistoric reptile genera {{paleo-turtle-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Argillochelys
''Argillochelys'' is an extinct genus of sea turtle from the middle to lower Eocene in what is now the island of Great Britain. It was first named by Lydekker in 1889. A species, ''A. africana'', was found in Morocco, and described in 2008 by Tong & Hirayama. References External links ''Argillochelys''at the Paleobiology Database The Paleobiology Database (PBDB) is an online resource for information on the distribution and classification of fossil animals, plants, and microorganisms. History The Paleobiology Database originated in the NCEAS-funded Phanerozoic Marine Pale ... www.ppne.co.uk Eocene turtles Chelonioidea Eocene reptiles of Europe Eocene reptiles of Africa Prehistoric turtle genera Taxa named by Richard Lydekker Fossil taxa described in 1889 {{paleo-turtle-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mexichelys
''Mexichelys'' is an extinct monotypic genus of sea turtle which lived in Mexico during the Cretaceous. The only species is ''Mexichelys coahuilaensis''. ''Mexichelys'' was erected in 2010 as a replacement name for '' Euclastes coahuilaensis'', a species named in 2009. Cladogram based on Lynch and Parham (2003) and Parham and Pyenson (2010): References External links ''Mexichelys''in the Paleobiology Database The Paleobiology Database (PBDB) is an online resource for information on the distribution and classification of fossil animals, plants, and microorganisms. History The Paleobiology Database originated in the NCEAS-funded Phanerozoic Marine Pale ... {{Cheloniidae Late Cretaceous turtles of North America Cheloniidae Fossil taxa described in 2010 Fossils of Mexico Prehistoric turtle genera Extinct turtles Monotypic prehistoric reptile genera ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toxochelys
''Toxochelys'' () is an extinct genus of marine turtle from the Late Cretaceous period. It is the most commonly found fossilized turtle species in the Smoky Hill Chalk, in western Kansas. Description ''Toxochelys'' had carapace about in length. Two species in the genus are recognized, ''Toxochelys latiremis'' and ''Toxochelys moorevillensis''. Phylogenetic analysis shows that ''Toxochelys'' belong to an extinct lineage of turtles transitional between modern sea turtles and other turtles. ''Toxochelys bauri'' Williston, 1905, based on the skeleton YPM 1786, is a synonym of '' Ctenochelys stenoporus''. ''Toxochelys'' are currently thought to be the oldest member and the last common ancestor of all extinct marine turtles. Even though ''Toxochelys'' shared similar limb characteristics with other species as Cheloniidae and Protostegidae, they evolved independently to pass down new limb features to future generations. These features allowed for advanced mobility of the hand. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cheloniidae
Cheloniidae is a family of typically large marine turtles that are characterised by their common traits such as, having a flat streamlined wide and rounded shell and almost paddle-like flippers for their forelimbs. They are the only sea turtles to have stronger front limbs than back limbs. The six species that make up this family are: the green sea turtle, loggerhead sea turtle, olive ridley sea turtle, hawksbill sea turtle, flatback sea turtle and the Kemp's ridley sea turtle. Morphology In contrast to their earth-bound relatives, tortoises, sea turtles do not have the ability to retract their heads into their shells. Their plastron, which is the bony plate making up the underside of a turtle or tortoise's shell, is comparably more reduced from other turtle species and is connected to the top part of the shell by ligaments without a hinge separating the pectoral and abdominal plates of the plastron. Sizes among the seven species of sea turtles range from 71 to 213 cm; for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cladogram
A cladogram (from Greek language, Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an Phylogenetic tree, evolutionary tree because it does not show how ancestors are related to descendants, nor does it show how much they have changed, so many differing evolutionary trees can be consistent with the same cladogram. A cladogram uses lines that branch off in different directions ending at a clade, a group of organisms with a last common ancestor. There are many shapes of cladograms but they all have lines that branch off from other lines. The lines can be traced back to where they branch off. These branching off points represent a hypothetical ancestor (not an actual entity) which can be inferred to exhibit the traits shared among the terminal taxa above it. This hypothetical ancestor might then provide clues about the order of evolution of various features, adaptation, and other e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pacifichelys
''Pacifichelys'' is an extinct genus of sea turtle from the Middle Miocene of Peru (Pisco Formation) and California ( Temblor Formation).''Pacifichelys'' at .org It was first named by James F. Parham and Nicholas D. Pyenson in 2010, and the is ''Pacifichelys urbinai'' from Peru. A second specie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paleogene
The Paleogene Period ( ; also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene) is a geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Neogene Period Ma. It is the first period of the Cenozoic Era, the tenth period of the Phanerozoic and is divided into the Paleocene, Eocene, and Oligocene epochs. The earlier term Tertiary Period was used to define the time now covered by the Paleogene Period and subsequent Neogene Period; despite no longer being recognized as a formal stratigraphic term, "Tertiary" still sometimes remains in informal use. Paleogene is often abbreviated "Pg", although the United States Geological Survey uses the abbreviation "" for the Paleogene on the Survey's geologic maps. Much of the world's modern vertebrate diversity originated in a rapid surge of diversification in the early Paleogene, as survivors of the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event took advantage of empty ecolo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
