Eurysternidae is an extinct family of

turtle Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked ...

s in the clade

Thalassochelydia Thalassochelydia is a clade of extinct marine turtles from the Late Jurassic and earliest Cretaceous of Europe and South America. The group is defined as including ''Eurysternum'', ''Plesiochelys'' and '' Thalassemys'' to the exclusion of '' Pe ...

. It consists of several genera of marine turtles from marine deposits in Europe, including ''

Achelonia ''Achelonia'' is an extinct genus of marine thalassochelydian turtle. Its type species is ''Achelonia formosa''. Fossils are known from the Upper Jurassic (late Kimmeridgian) of Wattendorf, Germany, Cerin, France, and England. Material from Engla ...

'', ''

Chelonides ''Chelonides'' is a genus of late Jurassic turtle from marine deposits in Lower Saxony, Germany. Taxonomy The name ''Chelonides wittei'' was coined by Maack (1869) for a partial shell (GZG 773–1) a partial skull (GZG 773–2), and isolated she ...

'', ''

Eurysternum ''Eurysternum'' is an extinct genus of thalassochelydian turtle. Its type species is ''Eurysternum wagleri'', the holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species ...

''. ''

Hydropelta ''Hydropelta'' is a genus of Late Jurassic turtle from marine deposits in the Jura Mountains of eastern France. Like many other eurysternid taxa, ''Hydropelta'' was at times considered the same species as ''Eurysternum''. Originally described as ...

'', ''

Idiochelys ''Idiochelys'' is a genus of Late Jurassic turtle from marine deposits in the Jura Mountains The Jura Mountains ( , , , ; french: Massif du Jura; german: Juragebirge; it, Massiccio del Giura, rm, Montagnas da Jura) are a sub-alpine mountain ...

'', '' Palaeomedusa'', ''

Parachelys ''Parachelys'' is a genus of Late Jurassic turtle from marine deposits in Bavaria, southern Germany. The type species, ''P. eichstaettensis'', is known only from the holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an or ...

''. and '' Solnhofia''.

References

Thalassochelydia Prehistoric reptile families Late Jurassic turtles Late Jurassic reptiles of Europe Taxa named by Louis Dollo {{paleo-turtle-stub