Université de Fribourg

Cranial osteology of the early cretaceous turtle Pleurosternon bullockii (paracryptodira: pleurosternidae)

Evers, Serjoscha W. ; Rollot, Yann ; Joyce, Walter G.

In: PeerJ, 2020, vol. 8, p. e9454

Pleurosternon bullockii is a turtle from the Early Cretaceous of Europe known from numerous postcranial remains. Only one skull has so far been referred to the species. Pleurosternon bullockii belongs to a group of turtles called pleurosternids, which is thought to include several poorly known taxa from the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous of Europe and North America. Pleurosternids and...

Université de Fribourg

An alternative interpretation of Peltochelys duchastelii as a paracryptodire

Joyce, Walter G. ; Rollot, Yann

In: Fossil Record, 2020, vol. 23, no. 1, p. 83–93

Peltochelys duchastelii is an enigmatic turtle from Early Cretaceous (middle Barremian–early Aptian) Sainte-Barbe Formation of Bernissart, Belgium. In more recent literature, there has been strong support for the trionychian affinities of this taxon, but this interpretation is less consistent with external data, in particular biogeography and temporal considerations. We provide a...

Université de Fribourg

A review of the fossil record of nonbaenid turtles of the clade Paracryptodira

Joyce, Walter G. ; Anquetin, Jérémy

In: Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History, 2019, vol. 60, no. 2, p. 129–155

The fossil record of nonbaenid paracryptodires ranges from the Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian) to the Paleocene of North America and Europe only. Earlier remains may be present as early as the Middle Jurassic (Bathonian). Only a single dispersal event is documented between the two continents after their breakup during the Cretaceous in the form of the appearance of the Compsemys lineage in the ...

Université de Fribourg

A review of the fossil record of turtles of the clade Thalassochelydia

Anquetin, Jérémy ; Püntener, Christian ; Joyce, Walter G.

In: Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History, 2017, vol. 58, no. 2, p. 317–369

The Late Jurassic (Oxfordian to Tithonian) fossil record of Europe and South America has yielded a particularly rich assemblage of aquatic pan-cryptodiran turtles that are herein tentatively hypothesized to form a monophyletic group named Thalassochelydia. Thalassochelydians were traditionally referred to three families, Eurysternidae, Plesiochelyidae, and Thalassemydidae, but the current...

Université de Fribourg

A toothed turtle from the Late Jurassic of China and the global biogeographic history of turtles

Joyce, Walter G. ; Rab, Márton ; Clark, James M. ; Xu, Xing

In: BMC Evolutionary Biology, 2016, vol. 16, p. 236

Turtles (Testudinata) are a successful lineage of vertebrates with about 350 extant species that inhabit all major oceans and landmasses with tropical to temperate climates. The rich fossil record of turtles documents the adaptation of various sub- lineages to a broad range of habitat preferences, but a synthetic biogeographic model is still lacking for the group.Results: We herein describe a...

Université de Fribourg

A review of the fossil record of turtles of the clade Pan-Chelydridae

Joyce, Walter G.

In: Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History, 2016, vol. 57, no. 1, p. 21–56

Turtles of the total clade Pan-Chelydridae have a relatively sparse fossil record that reaches back to the Late Cretaceous (Santonian). The clade was only present in North America during the Cretaceous but spread along unclear routes to Asia and Europe during the Paleocene, only to go extinct on those continents by the end of the Pliocene. Final dispersal to South America took place at some time...

Université de Fribourg

A Review of the fossil record of turtles of the clade Pan-Kinosternoidea

Joyce, Walter G. ; Bourque, Jason R.

In: Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History, 2016, vol. 57, no. 1, p. 57–95

Turtles of the total clade Pan-Kinosternoidea have a relatively poor fossil record that extends back to the Late Cretaceous (Campanian). The clade is found only in North America during its early history, but dispersed to Central America no later than the Miocene and to South America no later than the Pleistocene. Ancestral pan-kinosternoids were likely aquatic, bottom-walking omnivores or...

Université de Fribourg

The skeletal morphology of the solemydid turtle Naomichelys speciosa from the Early Cretaceous of Texas

Joyce, Walter G. ; Sterli, Juliana ; Chapman, Sandra D.

In: Journal of Paleontology, 2014, vol. 88, no. 6, p. 1257-1287

The fossil record of solemydid turtles is primarily based on isolated fragments collected from Late Jurassic to Late Cretaceous sediments throughout North America and Europe and little is therefore known about the morphology and evolutionary history of the group. We here provide a detailed description of the only known near- complete solemydid skeleton, which was collected from the Lower...

Université de Fribourg

A review of the fossil record of turtles of the clade Pan-Carettochelys

Joyce, Walter G.

In: Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History, 2014, vol. 55, no. 1, p. 3–33

Turtles of the total clade Pan-Carettochelys have a relatively poor fossil record that extends from the Early Cretaceous. The clade is only found in Asia during the Cretaceous, but spreads to Europe and North America during the Eocene. Neogene finds are restricted to Europe, Africa and Australia, whereas the only surviving species, Carettochelys insculpta, lives in New Guinea and the Northern...