External links
- Research.amnh.org: American Museum of Natural History − Phylogeny of turtles — official website of Eugene Gaffney.
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Eugene S. Gaffney is an American paleontologist and leading authority on the morphology and evolutionary history of turtles.
Gaffney graduated from Rutgers State University in 1965 and received his PhD in 1969 with a thesis on "The North American Baenoidea and the Cryptodire-Pleurodire Dichotomy" from Columbia University, where he also taught as an adjunct professor for most of his career. He was hired as Curator of Fossil Reptiles, Amphibians, and Birds in 1970 in the Department of Vertebrate Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History. Beginning at the rank of Assistant Curator in 1970, he was promoted to Associate Curator in 1973 and to Curator in 1980. He retired in 2007 as Curator Emeritus.He has authored over 100 publications on turtle systematics and phylogeny. [1]
Dr. Gaffney pioneered the use of cladistics in turtle research. [2] He has done fieldwork in Canada and the United States, central Europe, southern Africa, China, Argentina, Brazil, and especially Australia, where he has studied the evolution of the Meiolania , the giant horned turtle. [3]
The Gaffney Turtle Symposium on fossil turtles was held in his honor at the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller, Alberta, Canada, in 2009. [4] [5] The symposium resulted in a Publication containing a number of papers in fields associated with Gaffney as well as two biographies and a complete bibliography of Gaffney.
Several species of fossil turtles, including the protostegid sea turtle, Santanachelys gaffneyi , Gaffneylania auricularis , [6] and the Macrobaenid Aurorachelys gaffneyi [7] have also been named in his honor.
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Podocnemididae is a family of pleurodire (side-necked) turtles, once widely distributed. Most of its 20 genera and 30 species are now extinct. Seven of its eight surviving species are native to South America: the genus Peltocephalus, with only one species ; and the genus Podocnemis, with six living species of South American side-necked river turtles. There is also one genus native to Madagascar: Erymnochelys, the Madagascan big-headed turtle, whose single species E. madagascariensis.
Meiolania is an extinct genus of meiolaniid stem-turtle native to Australasia throughout much of the Cenozoic. Meiolania was a large turtle, with the shell alone ranging from 0.7–2 m in length. Four species are currently recognized, although the validity of two of them is disputed. Meiolania was first described as a species of lizard related to Megalania by Richard Owen towards the end of the 19th century, before the continued discovery of additional fossils solidified its placement as a kind of turtle.
Meiolaniidae is an extinct family of large, probably herbivorous stem-group turtles with heavily armored heads and clubbed tails known from South America and Australasia. Though once believed to be cryptodires, they are not closely related to any living species of turtle, and lie outside crown group Testudines, having diverged from them around the Middle Jurassic. They are best known from the last surviving genus, Meiolania, which lived in Australia from the Miocene until the Pleistocene, and insular species that lived on Lord Howe Island and New Caledonia during the Pleistocene and possibly the Holocene for the latter. Meiolaniids are part of the broader grouping of Meiolaniformes, which contains more primitive turtles species lacking the distinctive morphology of meiolaniids, known from the Early Cretaceous-Paleocene of South America and Australia.
Ninjemys oweni is an extinct large meiolaniid stem-turtle from Pleistocene Queensland and possibly New South Wales (Australia). It overall resembled its relative, Meiolania, save that the largest pair of horns on its head stuck out to the sides, rather than point backwards, the larger scales at the back of its skull and the tail club which is made up of only two tail rings rather than four. With a shell length of approximately 1 m it is a large turtle and among the largest meiolaniids. Ninjemys is primarily known from a well preserved skull and associated tail armor, which were initially thought to have belonged to the giant monitor lizard Megalania.
Paracryptodira is an extinct group of reptiles in the clade Testudinata, known from the Jurassic to Paleogene of North America and Europe. Initially treated as a suborder sister to Cryptodira, they were then thought to be a very primitive lineage inside the Cryptodira according to the most common use of the latter taxon. They are now often regarded as late-diverging stem-turtles, lying outside the clade formed by Cryptodira and Pleurodira. The paracryptodires are said to have phylogenic relationships, noted as primary subclades, within the Baenidae and Pleurosternidae. Within each subclade, lies many biodiverse turtles that are continuously being investigated and added to the fossil record. Paracryptodires are divided into three main groups, Compsemydidae, known from the Late Jurassic to Paleocene of North America and Europe, Pleurosternidae, known from the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous of North America and Europe, and Baenidae, known from the Early Cretaceous to Eocene of North America. The latter two groups are more closely related to each other than to Compsemys, forming the clade Baenoidea.
Niolamia is an extinct genus of South American meiolaniid turtle with a long and complex history. Like its relatives, Niolamia was a robust and heavily armored terrestrial turtle with large, horn like scales covering its head and a tail encased by rings of bone. This heavily armored build may have served the animal during intraspecific combat during courtship. Scans of the skull reveal that Niolamia likely had a great sense of smell but only low frequency hearing, indicating that these animals communicated more through chemical signals and smells than through sound.
Emarginachelys cretacea is a turtle belonging to the group Cryptodira, known from well preserved fossils from the Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous of Montana. Its exact phylogenetic position within Cryptodira is uncertain; different authors considered it to be either the earliest described chelydrid or a fossil relative of kinosternoids.
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.
Warkalania is an extinct genus of Australian meiolaniid turtle from the Oligocene or early Miocene of Riversleigh, Queensland. While other meiolaniids are known for their elaborate headcrests or long horns, Warkalania only possesses very short horns that form a somewhat continuous ridge across the back of the head. The only known species of this genus, Warkalania carinaminor, is the oldest named meiolaniid turtle of Australia.
Albertwoodemys is an extinct genus of podocnemidid turtle. From the Early Oligocene in the Jebel Qatrani Formation of Egypt.
Brontochelys is an extinct genus of podocnemidid from the Miocene of Pakistan. The only species known, B. gaffneyi was classified before in the genus Shweboemys, which is known from the Pliocene of Burma. Brontochelys is represented only by its type specimen BMNH R.8570, a nearly complete skull, which exact locality is unknown but probably comes from the Lower Miocene sediments in the Bugti Hills, in Baluchistan, Pakistan. This skull is different from its relatives like Shweboemys, Lemurchelys and Stereogenys by its large, forward-faced orbits, a large frontal bone that composes most of the dorsal orbit margin and a palatal curved. The name of Brontochelys is formed by the Greek words bronte, "thunder" and chelys, "turtle", in reference to the large size of the skull.
Lapparentemys is an extinct genus of podocnemidid turtles. Fossils of the genus have been found in the Tiupampan Santa Lucía Formation of Bolivia. The type species is L. vilavilensis.
Araripemydidae is a family of freshwater aquatic turtles belonging to the order Pleurodira, known from the Early Cretaceous of South America and Africa. The family contains two recognised monotypic genera, Araripemys and Taquetochelys, from the Santana Group of Brazil and the Elrhaz Formation of Niger, respectively, which date to the Aptian-Albian stages of the Early Cretaceous. They are consider to be the most basal lineage within the Pelomedusoides. They are thought to have been specialised suction feeders. Laganemys was named in 2013 but was later determined to be synonymous with Taquetochelys.
Meiolaniformes is an extinct clade of stem-group turtles, defined as all taxa more closely related to Meiolania than to Cryptodira and Pleurodira. It is known from the Early Cretaceous to the Holocene of Australia, Oceania and South America. Some Eurasian taxa have been suggested to be part of the group, but this is disputed.
Araiochelys is an extinct genus of bothremydid pleurodiran turtle that was discovered in the Ouled Abdoun Basin, Morocco. The genus consists solely of type species A. hirayamai.
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.
Amabilis uchoensis is a species of prehistoric pleurodiran turtle from the Late Cretaceous of South America. It is the only species in the genus Amabilis.
Gaffneylania is an extinct genus of meiolaniid turtle from the Eocene of Patagonia. Gaffneylania is among the earliest known meiolaniids and, much like its later relatives, possessed characteristic horns atop its head. The shell appears to have had a serrated margin. Gaffneylania is a monotypic genus, only containing a single species, Gaffneylania auricularis.
