Université de Fribourg

The last surviving Thalassochelydia — A new turtle cranium from the Early Cretaceous of the Purbeck Group (Dorset, UK)

Anquetin, Jérémy ; André, Charlotte

In: PaleorXiv, 2020, p. 7pa5c

Background. The mostly Berriasian (Early Cretaceous) Purbeck Group of southern England has produced a rich turtle fauna dominated by the freshwater paracryptodires Pleurosternon bullockii and Dorsetochelys typocardium. Each of these species is known by numerous relatively complete shells and by a single cranium. The two other turtles found in the Purbeck Group (Hylaeochelys belli, a species of...

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 Baenidae

Joyce, Walter G. ; Lyson, Tyler R.

In: Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History, 2015, vol. 56, no. 2, p. 147–183

The fossil record of the turtle clade Baenidae ranges from the Early Cretaceous (Aptian—Albian) to the Eocene. The group is present throughout North America during the Early Cretaceous, but is restricted to the western portions of the continents in the Late Cretaceous and Paleogene. No credible remains of the clade have been reported outside of North America to date. Baenids were warmadapted...

Université de Fribourg

A Review of the Fossil Record of Turtles of the Clades Platychelyidae and Dortokidae

Cadena, Edwin ; Joyce, Walter G.

In: Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History, 2015, vol. 56, no. 1, p. 3–20

The fossil record of platychelyid turtles expands from the Late Jurassic (Oxfordian) of Cuba to the Early Cretaceous (Valanginian) of Colombia. Platychelyids were adapted to freshwater to coastal environments. Current phylogenies confidently suggest that platychelyids are situated along the stem lineage of crown Pleurodira. A taxonomic review of the group concludes that of six named...

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...