Araiochelys

Last updated

Araiochelys
Temporal range: Paleocene, 66.043–61.7  Ma [1]
O
S
D
C
P
T
J
K
Pg
N
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Testudines
Suborder: Pleurodira
Family: Bothremydidae
Subfamily: Bothremydinae
Tribe: Bothremydini
Subtribe: Bothremydina
Genus: Araiochelys
Gaffney et al., 2006
Species:
A. hirayamai
Binomial name
Araiochelys hirayamai
Gaffney et al., 2006

Araiochelys ("narrow turtle") is an extinct genus of bothremydid pleurodiran turtle that was discovered in the Ouled Abdoun Basin, Morocco. [2] [1] [3] The genus consists solely of type species A. hirayamai. [1]

Contents

Discovery

Araiochelys was discovered in the Ouled Abdoun Basin of Morocco, primarily known for its Maastrichtian and Paleocene fossils. [2]

Description

The preorbital section of Araiochelys's skull is narrower than in all other members of the Bothremydini. The dorsal process is noted by the describers as being narrow in contrast to Bothremys. The ridge forming the lower rim of the orbit is relatively distinct, also in contrast to Bothremys . [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dermochelyidae</span> Family of turtles

Dermochelyidae is a family of reptiles which has seven extinct genera and one extant genus, including the largest living sea turtles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bothremydidae</span> Extinct family of turtles

Bothremydidae is an extinct family of side-necked turtles (Pleurodira) known from the Cretaceous and Cenozoic. They are closely related to Podocnemididae, and are amongst the most widely distributed pleurodire groups, with their fossils having been found in Africa, India, the Middle East, Europe, North America and South America. Bothremydids were aquatic turtles with a high morphological diversity, indicative of generalist, molluscivorous, piscivorous and possibly herbivorous grazing diets, with some probably capable of suction feeding. Unlike modern pleurodires, which are exclusively freshwater, bothremydids inhabited freshwater, marine and coastal environments. Their marine habits allowed bothremydids to disperse across oceanic barriers into Europe and North America during the early Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian). The youngest records of the group are indeterminate remains from Saudi Arabia and Oman, dating to the Miocene.

Corsochelys is an extinct genus of sea turtle that lived in the Late Cretaceous (Campanian). Zangerl (1960) named the type species, based upon remains found in Alabama within the Mooreville Chalk Formation.

<i>Argillochelys</i> Extinct genus of turtles

Argillochelys is an extinct genus of sea turtle from the middle to lower Eocene in what is now the island of Great Britain. It was first named by Lydekker in 1889.

<i>Cearachelys</i> Extinct genus of turtles

Cearachelys is an extinct genus of pleurodiran turtle which existed some 110 million years ago. The genus is monotypic, with only type species Cearachelys placidoi known.

<i>Foxemys</i> Extinct genus of turtles

Foxemys is an extinct genus of bothremydid turtle that was discovered at Fox Amphoux, France and also Hungary and Spain. Its skull and shell structure is similar to Polysternon. Two species are in the genus: F. mechinorum and F. trabanti.

<i>Ocepeia</i> Extinct Afrotherian mammal

Ocepeia is an extinct genus of afrotherian mammal that lived in present-day Morocco during the middle Paleocene epoch, approximately 60 million years ago. First named and described in 2001, the type species is O. daouiensis from the Selandian stage of Morocco's Ouled Abdoun Basin. A second, larger species, O. grandis, is known from the Thanetian, a slightly younger stage in the same area. In life, the two species are estimated to have weighed about 3.5 kg (7.7 lb) and 10 kg (22 lb), respectively, and are believed to have been specialized leaf-eaters. The fossil skulls of Ocepeia are the oldest known afrotherian skulls, and the best-known of any Paleocene mammal in Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ouled Abdoun Basin</span> Phosphate basin in Morocco

The Oulad Abdoun Basin is a phosphate sedimentary basin located in Morocco, near the city of Khouribga. It is the largest in Morocco, comprising 44% of Morocco's phosphate reserves, and at least 26.8 billion tons of phosphate. It is also known as an important site for vertebrate fossils, with deposits ranging from the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian-Turonian) to the Eocene epoch (Ypresian), a period of about 25 million years.

<i>Abdounodus</i> Extinct genus of mammal

Abdounodus is an extinct genus of mammal known from the middle Paleocene of northern Africa. The sole species, A. hamdii, is known from teeth discovered in the Ouled Abdoun Basin of present-day Morocco in 2001. Traditionally considered a mioclaenid "condylarth", recent studies place it as a basal afrothere closely related to Ocepeia, demonstrating the close convergent evolution between perissodactyls and herbivorous afrotheres and bridging paenungulates with other afrotheres.

<i>Alcione elainus</i> Genus of pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous

Alcione is a genus of pterosaur from the Ouled Abdoun Basin of Morocco, dating back to the Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous period. Only one species, A. elainus, is known. This pterosaur lived in a marine environment alongside several other pterosaurs, including Simurghia and Barbaridactylus.

<i>Simurghia</i> Genus of pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous

Simurghia is a genus of pterosaur from the Ouled Abdoun Basin of Morocco, a basin that dates to the Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous period, about 66 million years ago. It was published in 2018 by paleontologists Nicholas R. Longrich, David M. Martill, and Brian Andres, along with two other pterosaurs from the same basin: Alcione and Barbaridactylus. The type and only species is S. robusta.

<i>Galianemys</i> Extinct genus of turtle

Galianemys is an extinct genus of turtle in the family Bothremydidae, discovered in the Kem Kem Beds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sandownidae</span> Extinct family of turtles

Sandownidae is a family of extinct marine turtles from the Cretaceous and Paleogene distributed around the Atlantic Ocean and adjacent areas. The family is defined as all taxa closer to the type genus Sandownia than to Pelomedusa, Testudo, Solnhofia, Eurysternum, Plesiochelys, Thalassemys or Protostega, a definition that encompasses the previous concept of the clade while also excluding it from being synonymous with other clades of modern or extinct marine turtles. Sandownidae may be within the larger clade Angolachelonia, defined as inclusive of Angolachelys and Solnhofia, sister to the entirely Late Jurassic marine group Thalassochelydia, although the concepts of the clades may shift with further phylogenetic analysis.

<i>Glossochelys</i> Extinct genus of sea turtles

Glossochelys is an extinct genus of sea turtles from the Pancheloniidae that has been discovered in Eocene (Ypresian) deposits in Harwich, England that was first described as a species of Lytoloma in 1842. The type species, G. planimentum, was described as a separate species in 1871 by Harry Seeley. It was possibly the same animal as Euclastes or Erquelinnesia.

Elochelys is an extinct genus of bothremydid pleurodiran turtle that was discovered in the Campanian of Fuveau Basin, France. The genus consists solely of type species E. perfecta, though a second species was reassigned to the genus Iberoccitanemys.

Arenila is an extinct genus of bothremydid pleurodiran turtle that was discovered in the Western Desert of Egypt. The genus consists solely of type species A. krebsi.

Eotaphrosphys is an extinct genus of bothremydid pleurodiran turtle that was discovered in the Mont Aime Formation, France. Originally assigned to the genus "Tretosternum", it consists exclusively of type species E. ambiguum.

Rhothonemys is an extinct genus of bothremydid pleurodiran turtle that was discovered in the Paleogene of Morocco. The genus consists solely of type species R. brinkmani.

Ummulisani is an extinct genus of bothremydid pleurodiran turtle that was discovered in the Eocene of Morocco. The genus consists solely of type species U. rutgersensis.

Labrostochelys is an extinct genus of bothremydid pleurodiran turtle that was discovered in the Ouled Abdoun Basin, Morocco. The genus consists solely of type species L. galkini.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "†Araiochelys Gaffney et al. 2006". Paleobiology Database. Fossilworks. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 Gaffney, Eugene S.; Tong, Haiyan & Meylan, Peter A. (2006). "Evolution of the side-necked turtles: the families Bothremydidae, Euraxemydidae, and Araripemydidae" (PDF). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 300: 1–318. doi:10.1206/0003-0090(2006)300[1:EOTSTT]2.0.CO;2. hdl:2246/5824. S2CID   85790134.
  3. Araiochelys Gaffney, Tong & Meylan, 2006 † . Retrieved through: Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera  on 26 January 2023.