Ctenochelyidae

Ctenochelyids Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, Santonian–Maastrichtian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Diagram of Ctenochelys stenoporus
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Testudines
Suborder:	Cryptodira
Superfamily:	Chelonioidea
Family:	† Ctenochelyidae Karl, Biermann & Tichy, 2012 (sensu Gentry, 2018 [1] )
Type genus
† Ctenochelys Zangerl, 1953
Genera
† Asmodochelys † Ctenochelys † Peritresius † Prionochelys

Ctenochelyidae is an extinct family of sea turtles which lived in North America during the Santonian-Maastrichtian stages of the Late Cretaceous.

Classification

The family is defined as a monophyletic clade arising from the most recent ancestors of Ctenochelys and Peritresius . Fossils of ctenochelyids are known from the Western Interior Seaway and Mississippi embayment. ^[1] As of 2025, four genera have been assigned to this family: Asmodochelys , Ctenochelys , Peritresius and Prionochelys . ^[2]

Below is a cladogram from the analysis by Gentry, Ebersole & Kiernan (2019): ^[3]

Pan-Chelonioidea	†Angolachelonia †Protostegidae † Toxochelys latiremis Chelonioidea †Ctenochelyidae † Asmodochelys parhami †Prionochelys matutina † Ctenochelys acris † Ctenochelys stenoporus † Peritresius ornatus † Peritresius martini

References

1. Gentry, Andrew D. (2018-11-01). "Prionochelys matutina Zangerl, 1953 (Testudines: Pan-Cheloniidae) from the Late Cretaceous of the United States and the evolution of epithecal ossifications in marine turtles". PeerJ. 6: e5876. doi: 10.7717/peerj.5876 . ISSN   2167-8359. PMC   6215699 . PMID   30402356.
2. Smith, H. F.; Adrian, B.; Kline, P. (2025). "A novel marine turtle (Pan-Chelonioidea: Ctenochelyidae) from the Maastrichtian Neylandville Marl Formation of north central Texas, U.S.A". Swiss Journal of Palaeontology. 144. 23. doi: 10.1186/s13358-025-00363-8 .
3. Gentry, A.D.; Ebersole, J.A.; Kiernan, C.R. (2019). "Asmodochelys parhami, a new fossil marine turtle from the Campanian Demopolis Chalk and the stratigraphic congruence of competing marine turtle phylogenies". Royal Society Open Science. 6 (12): Article ID 191950. Bibcode:2019RSOS....691950G. doi:10.1098/rsos.191950. PMC   6936288 . PMID   31903219.