// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did the Neochelys say? Shell yeah.
| Neochelys Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
 | |
| N. franzeni specimens at the Senckenberg Museum | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Testudines |
| Suborder: | Pleurodira |
| Family: | Podocnemididae |
| Subfamily: | Erymnochelyinae |
| Genus: | †Neochelys Bergounioux, 1954 |
| Type species | |
| †Emys capellinii de Zigno, 1890 | |
| Species | |
|
See text | |
Neochelys (Greek for "new turtle") is an extinct genus of freshwater side-necked turtle that inhabited Europe during the Eocene. It was a diverse genus known throughout western and southern Europe from the Ypresian to the Priabonian.[1]
Taxonomy
[edit]The following species are known:[1][2]
- †N. arenarum de Broin, 1977 – early-mid Ypresian of France (Lignites de Soissonais)[3]
- †N. arribasi (Jiménez-Fuentes, 1975) - Bartonian or Priabonian of Spain (Aldearrubia Formation)[4]
- †N. capellinii (de Zigno, 1890) (type species) – latest Ypresian or earliest Lutetian of Italy (Monte Bolca) (=Emys capellinii)
- †N. eocaenica (de Stefano, 1902) – latest Ypresian or earliest Lutetian of France (Grès d'Aigne Formation)
- †N. franzeni Schleich, 1993 – early Lutetian of Germany (Messel Formation)[5]
- †N. laurenti Tong, 1998 – mid-late Ypresian of France (Saint-Papoul Formation)[6]
- †N. liriae Pérez-García & de Broin, 2013 – mid-late Ypresian of France (Grès d'Assignan Formation)
- †N. salmanticensis Jiménez-Fuentes, 1971 – Bartonian of Spain (=Podocnemis carbajosai)[7]
- †N. zamorensis Jiménez-Fuentes, 1992 – late Lutetian of Spain (Entrala Formation)
Indeterminate remains are known from the latest Eocene (Priabonian) of France and Spain; these have not been assigned to a specific species, but represent the youngest record of the genus.[1] The species "N." fajumensis from the Oligocene of Egypt was briefly assigned to this genus, but is now thought to belong to its own genus, Shetwemys.[8]
Morphological analyses suggest that Neochelys likely represents an ancient lineage of the Erymnochelyinae, sister to the clade composed of the South American Peltocephalus and the Malagasy Erymnochelys.[5] The taxonomic relationships between the multiple Neochelys species remain largely unknown. It has been suggested that N. eocaenica, N. capellinii, and N. salmanticensis together form a species complex known as the "N. eocaenica complex", but this is uncertain.[1]
Palaeopathology
[edit]A Neochelys sp. specimen exhibiting pelvic asymmetry has been found in the Duero Basin. Potential causes, none of which can be ruled out, of this palaeopathology include metabolic bone disease, a developmental abnormality, or some sort of traumatic injury.[9]
Ecology
[edit]A pathological Neochelys shell is known from the middle Eocene of Spain, hosting abnormalities that were previously thought to be the result of a crocodile attack. However, more recent studies instead suggest that these may instead occurred from parasites or a bacterial/fungal infection.[10]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 Pérez-García, Adán; de Lapparent de Broin, France (1 June 2013). "A new species of Neochelys (Chelonii, Podocnemididae) from the Ypresian (Early Eocene) of the South of France". Comptes Rendus Palevol. 12 (5): 269–277. Bibcode:2013CRPal..12..269P. doi:10.1016/j.crpv.2013.05.011.
- ↑ "PBDB Taxon". paleobiodb.org. Retrieved 2024-10-21.
- ↑ Martín-Jiménez, Marcos; Pérez-García, Adán (28 March 2023). "Neuroanatomical study of the podocnemidid turtle Neochelys arenarum (Pleurodira), from the early Eocene of France". The Anatomical Record. 308 (6): 1646–1658. doi:10.1002/ar.25217. ISSN 1932-8486. PMC 12062562. PMID 36974769.
- ↑ Pérez-García, Adán; Guerrero, Andrea; Jesús, Santiago Martín de; Ortega, Francisco (2026-01-19). "Evaluation of the Validity of the Spanish Eocene Pleurodiran Turtle 'Duerochelys arribasi': The Youngest Freshwater Member of Erymnochelyinae (Podocnemididae) in Europe". Diversity. 18 (1): 51. doi:10.3390/d18010051. ISSN 1424-2818.
- 1 2 Cadena, Edwin (27 August 2015). "A global phylogeny of Pelomedusoides turtles with new material of Neochelys franzeni Schleich, 1993 (Testudines, Podocnemididae) from the middle Eocene, Messel Pit, of Germany". PeerJ. 3 e1221. Bibcode:2015PeerJ...3e1221C. doi:10.7717/peerj.1221. ISSN 2167-8359. PMC 4556147. PMID 26336649.
- ↑ Pérez-García, Adán; de Lapparent de Broin, France (1 December 2015). "New insights into the anatomy and systematic of 'Papoulemys' laurenti, a representative of Neochelys (Chelonii, Podocnemididae) from the early Eocene of the south of France". Paläontologische Zeitschrift. 89 (4): 901–923. Bibcode:2015PalZ...89..901P. doi:10.1007/s12542-015-0259-3.
- ↑ Pérez-García, Adán; Guerrero, Andrea; Martín de Jesús, Santiago; Ortega, Francisco (18 April 2023). "Shell characterization of the youngest valid species of the European Eocene genus Neochelys (Pleurodira, Podocnemididae): The Spanish Bartonian Neochelys salmanticensis". The Anatomical Record. 308 (6): 1553–1572. doi:10.1002/ar.25225. ISSN 1932-8486. PMC 12062568. PMID 37072560.
- ↑ Gaffney, Eugene S.; Meylan, Peter Andre; Wood, Roger Conant; Simons, Elwyn L.; Campos, Diógenes de Almeida (2011). "Evolution of the side-necked turtles: the family Podocnemididae". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 350: 1–237. doi:10.1206/350.1. hdl:2246/6110.
- ↑ Guerrero, Andrea; Ortega, Francisco; Martín de Jesús, Santiago; Pérez-García, Adán (12 April 2024). "Postcranial anomalies of Eocene freshwater pleurodiran and cryptodiran turtles from the Spanish Duero Basin". The Anatomical Record. 308 (6): 1659–1676. doi:10.1002/ar.25443. ISSN 1932-8486. PMC 12062566. PMID 38613176.
- ↑ Guerrero, Andrea; Ortega, Francisco; Martín de Jesús, Santiago; Pérez-García, Adán (March 2023). "Analysis of the anomalies in a Middle Eocene shell of Neochelys (Pleurodira, Podocnemididae) from the Duero Basin (Zamora, Spain)". Diversity. 15 (3): 314. Bibcode:2023Diver..15..314G. doi:10.3390/d15030314.