Hispaniachelys
Temporal range: Oxfordian, 161.2–158 Ma
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Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Clade: Pantestudines
Clade: Testudinata
Clade: †Thalassochelydia
Genus: †Hispaniachelys
Slater et al., 2011
Species:
†H. prebetica
Binomial name
†Hispaniachelys prebetica
Slater et al., 2011

Hispaniachelys is an extinct genus of thalassochelydian turtle known from the Lorente Formation of southern Spain.[1] Reinterpretation of the original material shows that the taxon lacks diagnostic characteristics and is thus a nomen dubium.[2]

Description

Hispaniachelys is known from postcranial material. It is the only known tetrapod from the Mesozoic of the Prebetic and the oldest turtle from southern Europe, dating to the late Oxfordian of the early Late Jurassic, about 161.2-158 million years ago.[1]

Etymology

Hispaniachelys was first named by Ben J. Slater, Matías Reolid, Remmert Schouten, and Michael J. Benton in 2011 and the type species is Hispaniachelys prebetica. The generic name is derived from Hispania, a Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula or Spain, and -chelys, Greek for "turtle". The specific name refers to the Prebetic, where the holotype was discovered.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c Ben J. Slater; Matías Reolid; Remmert Schouten; Michael J. Benton (2011). "A new Late Jurassic turtle from Spain: phylogenetic implications, taphonomy and palaeoecology". Palaeontology. 54 (6): 1393–1414. Bibcode:2011Palgy..54.1393S. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2011.01100.x.
  2. ^ Anquetin, J.; Püntener, C.; Joyce, W.G. (2017). "A Review of the Fossil Record of Turtles of the Clade Thalassochelydia" (PDF). Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History. 58 (2): 317–369. doi:10.3374/014.058.0205. S2CID 31091127.


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