Rhinochelys is an extinct genus of

sea turtle Sea turtles (superfamily Chelonioidea), sometimes called marine turtles, are reptiles of the order Testudines and of the suborder Cryptodira. The seven existing species of sea turtles are the flatback, green, hawksbill, leatherback, loggerhe ...

s belonging to the family

Protostegidae Protostegidae is a family of extinct marine turtles that lived during the Cretaceous period. The family includes some of the largest sea turtles that ever existed. The largest, '' Archelon'', had a head long. Like most sea turtles, they had fl ...

Fossil records

Fossils of ''Rhinochelys'' have been found in Cenomanian-age marine deposits of southern England, Lebanon, and France.

Species

Three species of ''Rhinochelys'' are recognized:Scavezzoni I, Fischer V. (2018) Rhinochelys amaberti Moret (1935), a protostegid turtle from the Early Cretaceous of France. PeerJ 6:e4594 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.4594 * ''Rhinochelys pulchriceps'' ( Owen, 1851) * ''Rhinochelys amaberti'' Moret, 1935 * ''Rhinochelys nammourensis'' Tong, Hirayama, Makhoul & Escuillie, 2006Haiyan Tong, Hirayama R., Makhoul, E. & Escuillie F. 2006. Rhinochelys (Chelonioidea : Protostegidae) from the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) of Nammoura, Lebanon. Atti della società italiana di scienze naturali e del museo civico di storia naturale di Milano 147 (1) : 113 – 138 ''Rhinochelys cantabrigiensis'' and ''R. elegans'', both named by Richard Lydekker in 1889, are recovered by Scavezzoni and Fischer (2018) as closer to ''

Desmatochelys ''Desmatochelys'' (from Greek δεσμός ''desmos'' 'link' + χέλῡς ''khelus'' ‘tortoise’) is an extinct genus of sea turtles belonging to the family Protostegidae. This genus contains two known species, ''D. lowii'' and ''D. padilla ...

'' than to ''Rhinochelys'' and possibly are not congeneric with ''Rhinochelys''.

Bibliography

* Hirayama, R., 1997: Distribution and diversity of Cretaceous chelonioids. 225–243. in Callaway, J. M. & Nicholls, E. L., (eds.), 1997: Ancient marine reptiles. Academic Press, San Diego, London, Boston, New York, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto, 1997, pp. xlvi - 501 * Moody, R. T. J., 1997: The paleogeography of marine and coastal turtles of the North Atlantic and Trans-Saharan regions. 259–278 in Callaway, J. M. & Nicholls, E. L., (eds.) 1997: Ancient Marine Reptiles. Academic Press, San Diego, London, Boston, New York, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto, 1997, xlvi-501

References

{{Testudines Protostegidae Cretaceous turtles Prehistoric turtles of Europe Extinct turtles