Pacifichelys

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Pacifichelys
Temporal range: Mid Miocene (Friasian-Laventan)
~15.97–13.65  Ma
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Pacifichelys urbinai -museo historia natural lima.jpg
Skull of Pacifichelys urbinai
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Testudines
Suborder: Cryptodira
Superfamily: Chelonioidea
Family: Cheloniidae
Genus: Pacifichelys
Type species
Pacifichelys urbinai
Parham and Pyenson, 2010
Species
  • P. urbinaiParham and Pyenson, 2010
  • P. hutchisoni(Lynch and Parham, 2003)
Synonyms

Pacifichelys is an extinct genus of sea turtle from the Middle Miocene of Peru (Pisco Formation) and California (Temblor Formation). [1] [2] It was first named by James F. Parham and Nicholas D. Pyenson in 2010, and the type species is Pacifichelys urbinai from Peru. [2] A second species, P. hutchisoni, was reassigned from the genus Euclastes . It is known from the Miocene of California. Like the living Ridley and loggerhead sea turtles, Pacifichelys was durophagous, consuming hard-shelled organisms with crushing jaws. [2]

Taxonomy

Cladogram based on Lynch and Parham (2003) [3] and Parham and Pyenson (2010): [2]

Cheloniidae  sensu lato


References

  1. Pacifichelys at Fossilworks.org
  2. 1 2 3 4 James F. Parham; Nicholas D. Pyenson (2010). "New Sea Turtle from the Miocene of Peru and the Iterative Evolution of Feeding Ecomorphologies since the Cretaceous". Journal of Paleontology. 84 (2): 231–247. Bibcode:2010JPal...84..231P. doi:10.1666/09-077R.1. S2CID   62811400.
  3. Lynch, S.C.; Parham, J.F. (2003). "The first report of hard-shelled sea turtles (Cheloniidae sensu lato) from the Miocene of California, including a new species (Euclastes hutchisoni) with unusually plesiomorphic characters" (PDF). PaleoBios. 23 (3): 21–35.[ permanent dead link ]
  4. "Fossilworks: Euclastes coahuilaensis".