Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T06:44:13.841Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

New specimen of Basilemys praeclara Hay and its bearing on the relationships of the Nanhsiungchelyidae (Reptilia: Testudines)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 May 2016

Donald Brinkman
Affiliation:
Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology, Box 7500, Drumheller, Alberta, Canada, T0J 0Y0
Elizabeth L. Nicholls
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive, Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4, Canada

Abstract

A new specimen of the Cretaceous trionychoid turtle Basilemys praeclara Hay, from the Frenchman Formation (Upper Maastrichtian) of Saskatchewan, confirms the validity of the species, previously known only from the type specimen. Basilemys praeclara is considered the sister taxon of Basilemys sinuosa, and the restriction of this clade to the late Maastrichtian reinforces the distinctiveness of the Lancian chelonian fauna from the older Judithian chelonian fauna. Basilemys, Nanhsiungchelys, and Zangerlia comprise the family Nanhsiungchelyidae, with Basilemys and Nanhsiungchelys being sister taxa within the family.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Brinkman, D. B., and Nicholls, E. L. 1991. Anatomy and relationships of the turtle Boremys pulchra (Testudines: Baenidae). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 11:302315.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cope, E. D. 1868. On the origin of genera. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, 20:242300.Google Scholar
Gaffney, E. S. 1972. The systematics of the North American family Baenidae (Reptilia: Cryptodira). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 147(5):241320.Google Scholar
Gaffney, E. S. 1975. A taxonomic revision of the Jurassic turtles Portlandemys and Plesiochelys. American Museum Novitates, 2574:119.Google Scholar
Hay, O. P. 1902. Bibliography and catalogue of fossil vertebrates of North America. Bulletin of the U.S. Geological Survey, 179:1868.Google Scholar
Hay, O. P. 1908. Fossil turtles of North America. Carnegie Institute of Washington, Publication 75, 568 p.Google Scholar
Hay, O. P. 1910. Descriptions of eight new species of fossil turtles from west of the One Hundredth Meridian. Proceedings of the U.S. National Museum, 38:307326.Google Scholar
Hutchison, J. H., and Archibald, J. D. 1986. Diversity of turtles across the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary in northeastern Montana. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 55:122.Google Scholar
Hutchison, J. H., and Bramble, D. M. 1981. Homology of the plastral scales of the Kinosternidae and related turtles. Herpetologica, 37:7385.Google Scholar
Langston, W. 1956. The shell of Basilemys variolosa (Cope). Bulletin of the National Museum of Canada, 147:155163.Google Scholar
Mateer, N. J. 1981. The reptilian megafauna from the Kirtland Shale (Late Cretaceous) of the San Juan Basin, New Mexico, p. 4975. In Lucas, S. G. (ed.), Advances in San Juan Basin Paleontology. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, New Mexico.Google Scholar
Meylan, P. A., and Gaffney, E. S. 1989. The skeletal morphology of the Cretaceous cryptodiran turtle, Adocus, and the relationships of the Trionychoidea. American Museum Novitates, 2941:160.Google Scholar
Mlynarski, M. 1972. Zangerlia testudinimorpha n. gen., n. sp. a primitive land tortoise from the Upper Cretaceous of Mongolia. Palaeontologica Polonica, 27:8592.Google Scholar
Riggs, E. S. 1906. The carapace and plastron of Basilemys sinuosus, a new fossil tortoise from the Laramie beds of Montana. Field Columbian Museum of Natural History, Geology Series, 2:249256.Google Scholar
Sukhanov, V. B., and Narmandakh, P. 1975. Turtles of the Basilemys group (Chelonia, Dermatemyidae) in Asia. Iskopayemaya fauna i flora Mongolii. Sovmestnaya Sovetsko-Mongol'skaya paleontologicheskaya ekspeditsiya, Trudy, 2:94101.Google Scholar
Sukhanov, V. B., and Narmandakh, P. 1977. The shell and limbs of Basilemys orientalis (Chelonia, Dermatemyidae). A contribution to the morphology and evolution of the genus. Fauna, flora i biostratgrafiya Mezozoya i Kainozoya Mongolii. Sovmestnaya Sovetsko-Mongol'skaya nauchneissledovat el'skaya geologicheskaya ekspeditsiya, Trudy, 4:5779.Google Scholar
Yeh, H. K. 1966. A new Cretaceous turtle of Nanhsiung, northern Kwantung. Vertebrata Palasiatica, 10:191200.Google Scholar