''Solemys'' 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 stem

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 ...

known from the

Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', ...

(late Campanian-early Maastrichtian) of southern France and eastern Spain.

Taxonomy

Two species are known, the type species ''Solemys gaudryi'' (Matheron, 1869) and ''S. vermiculata'' de Lapparent de Broin and Murelaga, 1996. The former was originally assigned to the Cenozoic turtle genus ''Apholidemys'' by Matheron (1869), but de Lapparent de Broin and Murelaga (1996) recognized it as a stem turtle distinct from ''Apholidemys'' and renamed it ''Solemys''.F. d.e. Lapparent de Broin and X. Murelaga. 1996. Une nouvelle faune de chéloniens dans le Crétacé supérieur européen. Comptes Rendus de l’Académie des Sciences de Paris 323:729-735

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q85801922 Fossil taxa described in 1996 Late Cretaceous turtles Extinct turtles Testudinata