''Protoxinjiangchelys'' is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

xinjiangchelyid Xinjiangchelyidae is an extinct family of turtles known from the Lower Jurassic to the Middle Cretaceous of Asia and western Europe. They have generally been interpreted as either being basal cryptodires or placed outside of crown Testudines. Ge ...

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 tu ...

known from the

Early Early may refer to: History * The beginning or oldest part of a defined historical period, as opposed to middle or late periods, e.g.: ** Early Christianity ** Early modern Europe Places in the United States * Early, Iowa * Early, Texas * Early ...

to Late Jurassic of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

(

Xintiangou Formation The Xintiangou Formation is a geological formation in China. Part of the stratigraphy of the Sichuan Basin, it is of an uncertain Middle Jurassic age, with preliminary U-Pb estimates giving an age range of 170 ma. It predominantly consists of inte ...

and possibly also the

Shaximiao Formation The Shaximiao Formation () is a Middle Jurassic, Middle to Late Jurassic aged geological formation in Sichuan, China, most notable for the wealth of dinosaurs fossils that have been excavated from its strata. The Shaximiao Formation is exposed in ...

). It is known from the single species ''P. salis'', which was named and described in 2012.H. Tong, I. Danilov, Y. Ye, H. Ouyang, and G. Peng. 2012. Middle Jurassic turtles from the Sichuan Basin, China: a review. Geological Magazine 149(4):675-695 It contains only the holotype, ZDM 3009, which consists of a complete shell with an articulated

carapace A carapace is a Dorsum (biology), dorsal (upper) section of the exoskeleton or shell in a number of animal groups, including arthropods, such as crustaceans and arachnids, as well as vertebrates, such as turtles and tortoises. In turtles and tor ...

and a complete plastron and possibly another, older specimen.

References

Xinjiangchelyidae Prehistoric turtle genera Toarcian first appearances Jurassic turtles Jurassic reptiles of Asia Jurassic China Fossils of China Fossil taxa described in 2012 {{paleo-turtle-stub