''Brontochelys'' is an extinct

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

of podocnemidid from the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first 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 means "less recent" ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. The only species known, ''B. gaffneyi'' was classified before in the genus '' Shweboemys'', which is known from the

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

. ''Brontochelys'' is represented only by its

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes the ...

BMNH R.8570, a nearly complete skull, which exact locality is unknown but probably comes from the Lower Miocene sediments in the

Bugti Hills Bugti Hills are a range of hills in eastern Balochistan, Pakistan. It includes the tribal tract called Bugti country. 30 million years ago the Haplorrhinies: '' Bugtipithecus inexpectans'', '' Phileosimias kamali'' and '' Phileosimias brahuioru ...

, in

Baluchistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...

, Pakistan. This skull is different from its relatives like ''Shweboemys'', '' Lemurchelys'' and '' Stereogenys'' by its large, forward-faced orbits, a large frontal bone that composes most of the dorsal orbit margin and a palatal curved. The name of ''Brontochelys'' is formed by the Greek words ''bronte'', "thunder" and ''chelys'', "turtle", in reference to the large size of the skull.Gaffney, E.S.; Meylan, P.A.; Wood, R.C.; Simons, E.L.; Campos, D.A. 2011
Evolution of the side-necked turtles: the family Podocnemididae
''Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History'' 350: 1–237.

References

{{Testudines Podocnemididae Prehistoric turtle genera Extinct turtles Fossils of Pakistan