Chelydropsis Temporal range: | |
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Chelydropsis murchisoni. Left: juvenile, right: adult | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Order: | Testudines |
Suborder: | Cryptodira |
Family: | Chelydridae |
Genus: | † Chelydropsis Peters, 1868 |
Species | |
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Synonyms [1] | |
Macrocephalochelys Piboplichko & Taraschchuk, 1960 |
Chelydropsis is an extinct genus in the family of pan-chelydrids, relatives of modern snapping turtles, that lived from the Eocene to the Pliocene in Asia and Europe.
The broad and flat triturating surfaces of Chelydropsis suggest that they were specialized molluscivores, unlike modern snapping turtles. [3] It was a large turtle, reaching carapax lengths of 65-70 cm, though a general increase in size over time is apparent in the European lineage. [3] [5]
Chelydropsis likely represents a single, monotypic lineage, which arrived in Eurasia from North America during the late Eocene, with the earliest fossils being known from France. [2] Oligocene fossils of this species are furthermore known from Germany and Kazakhstan. By the Miocene it is known throughout Europe and parts of Asia, with fossils being known not only from the aforementioned countries, but also Austria, Czechia, Spain, Ukraine, Poland, Moldova, Romania, and Turkey. The Pliocene record of this genus is far less extensive, but Chelydropsis is still widely distributed throughout Europe in this period, although it disappears by the Pleistocene, likely as a result of the cooling climate, possibly going extinct after 3 Ma. This might indicate that the genus was less tolerant to cold temperatures than modern snapping turtles, or that the cooling shaped key factors needed for its survival. [3] [6]